Vulnerable
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: A series of one-shots, involving hurt/comfort moments between Tony and Pepper, that will collectively grow as time permits. These one-shots can range from hurt!ff to sick!ff.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! This is a series of one-shots featuring my personal yearning for hurt/comfort Pepper and Tony moments. Hopefully, i'm not the only one out there that loves them. **

**Note: None of the chapters are connected.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, or Iron Man. But what i do own is a Robert Downey Jr body pillow, iphone case, and blanket. **

**Read and enjoy!**

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Chapter 1

Pepper was on the phone with one of the board members. They were going back and forth, along with a lawyer, on drafting a contract for the next review meeting. She was sitting on the white leather couch in the living room of Tony's mansion.

Tony had been away on a mission for the past six hours. It was almost eight o'clock and all Pepper wanted to do was to get the contract over with. She scratched the side of her head in exasperation.

"What would be the benefits from that?" Pepper asked with her Blackberry pressed against her ear, and her laptop resting on her lap. She paused for a moment to listen to the man's rambling.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "That seems highly unlikely."

The man mumbled something through the phone, and Pepper's response was very discontented. "If you want to do that, please, talk to the lawyer and draft the contract yourself. We've been at this for hours, and I'd rather not get into the details of how many times you've changed your mind."

She paused. The man asked her about Tony's whereabouts, making Pepper's remembrance about his current mission take a toll on her conscience. In annoyance, she spat back, "Yes, I realize that, but at the moment, Mr. Stark is unavailable. So, we're going to have to continue the contract with out him, or at least until I can get a hold of him."

The man asked her about her qualifications on the contract in irritation.

She let out a heavy sigh. "I've done this before, Mr. Burgs. My qualification is the last of your worries."

Just as she was about to respond to another of the man's ghastly questions, she heard something crash. Her ears rang when she heard the various clings and clangs of tools falling on the ground. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and worry.

"Talk to the lawyer about your priorities about this contract and let him draft it. I'll review it early tomorrow and get back to you. Good night, Mr. Burgs." She hung up on the man and immediately reoriented her laptop from her lap to the spot beside her on the couch.

"JARVIS?" She curiously and worriedly asked.

"Yes, Miss Potts?" The AI responded.

"Was that Tony?"

"Yes. Mister Stark has indeed arrived home." JARVIS casually replied.

"Is he alright?" She asked, getting up from the couch.

"He's inquired that he is 'fine', Miss Potts."

She rolled her eyes at JARVIS' statement and pressed her lips together. "I hardly believe that." She walked towards the staircase that led to his workshop. She opened up the glass door after pressing in her access code. When the seal popped, her eyes immediately scanned the room for the lovable oaf.

"Tony?" She worriedly hollered.

Tony came out from the back that was surrounded in various Iron Man scraps and tools. He wore the thin black under armor top and a pair of black slacks.

When Pepper turned her head to look at him, she saw numerous cuts on his face and a bruise on his neck. She could only imagine what the rest of his body looked like. She smirked to herself at the double meaning her words held.

"Hey." He said with a low gasp.

"You okay?" She anxiously asked him.

"Yeah." He placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them intently, looking for a kiss as well. "Why wouldn't I be?" He grinned.

"Well, for one…" Pepper looked up at the big gaping hole in the middle of the ceiling. Tony followed her gaze and immediately waved it off.

"Oh, that." He hummed. "Don't worry about that. I can fix that tomorrow."

"It's not the repair I'm worrying about Tony." She eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure you're okay?" Her hands wrapped around his waist and began pressing his sides for injuries.

He giggled in response and moved out of her reach. "Hey, that tickles."

She gave him a knowing expression. "Tony." She lowly growled.

"Peps." He grinned wildly. Her worried look made him quickly retaliate. "Don't worry. I'm fine. I could use a back rub though, or maybe a foot massage."

"Don't press your luck." She shook her head at him. Her eyes gazed at the cuts on his face. "Let me at least get the first aid kit."

Pepper grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom, and led Tony to the couch. He reluctantly sat down with a plop and knowingly eyed her movements. She said down next to him and shifted her body so that she could face his side.

She dabbed a cotton swab with anti-bacterial liquid and lightly dabbed the lines of dried blood that strewn across his face.

He winced a few times in pain, and even gently smacked her hand away. Pepper tried not to grin at his childish antics, but she found it hard to hide.

"Are you making fun of me?" He asked her hoarsely.

She looked at him wryly. "You're being such a big baby, Tony."

He began to pout; his hands gently grasped her waist to hold her closer. "Kiss me. It'll make me feel better."

She rolled her eyes at him and ignored his pleas with another dab from the cotton swab. He hissed in pain this time.

"Feeling better?" She smiled knowingly.

"Meany." He frowned and sniffed. Her vulnerability to his every adorable expression imaginable made her want to snuggle up to his side and comfort him, or at least give him a quick kiss.

She settled with tucking her arm underneath his, and lacing their fingers together. He couldn't help but smile when her hand affectionately squeezed his.

At the time, Pepper hadn't approved his various pleas of asking her to move in with him. She simply stated that it was too early. They had been in a romantic relationship for almost six months, and Tony argued that she had been living in his mansion for eleven years. Pepper could only roll her eyes at him in response, so each opportunity he got, he'd ask her the same exact question, and she would give him the same exact answer.

She threw the cotton swab into the trash and squeezed his hand in reassurance. She carefully eyed his face for any more injuries, and at the same time avoided his gaze for the sake of her concentration. When she was done surveying the damage, she held his gaze with a smile.

"What?" He asked her with an endearing grin.

He didn't give her the chance to answer him as his lips were immediately, and softly, pressed against hers. She sighed in content against his kiss, and raised her hand up to his side. She squeezed the side of his stomach in affection and moved up.

Her hand rested against his ribs, slowly massaging them with tender.

That's when the passion increased. He kissed her again and began to lean into her hold. Her back was on the brink of laying against the armrest on the sofa until her hands passionately squeezed his ribs.

He let out a big yelp of pain and immediately cursed under his breath.

"Ow—Oh god, ow!" He pulled away from her with a groan.

Without a word, almost as if in routine, Pepper asked JARVIS to do a medical scan on Tony's body. She glared at him with a deathly look, and he could only pout like an adorable puppy that had just sprained its leg as he tenderly held his side.

"Indeed, Mr. Stark has two bruised ribs, both on his left side." The AI responded rather quickly.

"Okay, up to bed." She stood up and ushered him towards the staircase.

"What—" He frowned as her hands pressed against his back, guiding him through the glass door. "—But I was going to work on the suit, and upgrade JARVIS so that he can _effectively lie_ to you next time." He glared up at the ceiling.

"My apologies, sir."

"Yeah, we'll see about that when I make Dummy dowse your CPU with the fire extinguisher." Tony angrily mumbled under his breath.

Pepper forcefully pushed him towards his bedroom, and ordered him to change out of his clothes and into something more comfortable. While Pepper went downstairs to grab some Asprin and an ice pack, Tony effectively changed into a pair of boxers and an old white cotton t-shirt. He reached for his Stark Phone on the nightstand and went through various schematics that were stored in his private sever.

The sound of Pepper's feet padding against the hard wood floor made him look up in curiosity. She walked over to his side of the bed and handed him the ice pack.

"Place it on your ribs under your shirt." She ordered him while she went into the bathroom to get a cup of water for the Asprin.

"But…" he frowned at the pack. "…It's cold."

She groaned. "Tony, stop making such a fuss."

He, too, groaned. "Pepperrrr." He drew out. "Help me." She was almost certain she heard a five year-old boy instead of his voice.

She walked out of the bathroom with a sigh and placed the cup of water and four tablets of Asprin on the nightstand. She rolled up his shirt, brushing her fingers along the smooth skin of his side, and gently placed the pack near his ribs.

"Gah, that's cold!" He exclaimed.

"There's a reason why it's called an ice pack, Tony." She joked.

"You know what would make it hotter?" His grin grew wildly with innuendo.

"No." She immediately stopped him from going further into detail. "Here, take some Asprin." She held her hand out.

He furrowed his eyebrows down at the medicine. "There are four, Pep. Are you trying to make me overdose on these things?"

She rolled her eyes. "Two for you, and two for me."

"For you?" He raised an eyebrow up at her.

"To you, it's Asprin. To me, it's 'Tony Stark pain the ass relief medication'." She joked with a sly grin.

He returned the smile. "Let's just agree that without my antics, you'd be bored as all get out. Right, Potts?"

She handed him his Asprin. "Sure." She said in a sarcastic tone.

After they had both taken their medication, Pepper had gallivanted to the bathroom for a bit. When she came out, still wearing her casual attire, Tony was on his phone, trying not to fall asleep. His eye lids would fall every other second, and he'd bring them back up without a beat.

"You need to rest, Tony."

He looked up at her with sleepy eyes. "I will when a certain girlfriend of mine decides to cuddle with me."

She half-heartedly responded, "I can't stay tonight." She braced her ears for another round of Tony's award winning whining.

"But, Pepperrrrr." He childishly drew out again. "I'm injured." His bottom lip was drawn out in an effective, and adorable, pout.

She almost had to pry her eyes away from the sight. "I really have to get home."

"I don't get why you still have your apartment when—"

"Tony." She interjected. "I already know what you're going to say, and my answer is still no."

"Poop." He frowned. "At least stay for the night. I don't think I can handle the pain without you."

"You seem fine to me." She knowingly smiled at him.

"Stay…" He groaned in that irresistible and hoarse tone of his.

She turned her head to face him. He looked like he had just been smacked on the butt for being a bad puppy. His eyes were wide, his bottom lip was still drawn out, and the fake sniffling sounds instantly bounced in her ears.

She heavily sighed in response and finally agreed to stay for the night. She had changed out of her clothes and into one of his boxers and t-shirts. She dove underneath the sheets and snuggled up to his side. His arm wrapped around her shoulders once her head laid against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and sighed in utter content.

Pepper grinned against his affectionate actions and gently nuzzled her cheek against his chest.

In a matter of seconds, their breathing had evened out. Tony was softly snoring against Pepper's head, and Pepper was drooling against his side.

It was one thing to deal with a stubborn billionaire playboy on a regular basis, but it was another thing when it came to his needs after a painful mission. And his girlfriend was always at the top of his list.

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**A/N: Fishing for reviews :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, and thank you Guest for pointing out the flaws in my fanfiction :). And to one of my reviewers: Not every couple sleeps together in content (many dream it should be). I had to kick my dog out of my room because he snored so loud... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Note: I have a final coming up tomorrow, and I have my other fanfic 'Superhuman' to work on as well. I'm apologizing for any unfortunate future delays or inconveniences.**

**Read and enjoy!**

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Chapter 2

The door knob turned quickly, and emerging through Pepper's front door was none other than Tony Stark. He clapped his hands in the sudden darkness and took off his black tinted sun glasses.

"Okay, Pepper." He shouted. "Let's go!"

He stood there in silence for a few seconds in eagerness of hearing her lovely voice. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before noticing how dark it was. He ran his hand against the nearest wall and flipped the switch. The darkened apartment was now lit up like Christmas. His gaze ventured around the empty living room and kitchen.

He was now getting worried.

"Pepper?" He shouted again.

Tony turned towards nearest hallway and practically ran down it. He opened her spare bedroom with a slam. He turned on the light and noticed it was empty. He ran into her spare bathroom, and it too, was empty.

His heart was now racing with concern.

His hand gently grasped the doorknob on her bedroom door. He closed his eyes in anticipation. If it turned out that her room was empty as well, he knew he'd get the Mark VII suit out of his Audi without hesitation, and search high and low for her.

He turned the knob and walked into a lightly dimmed room. Pepper was lying on her stomach underneath her tan colored bed sheets. The red and gold soft cotton blanket he had given her as a joke, and said it was going to be their 'baby making' blanket, was draped over her body. Her head was turned the other way, and her arms were tucked underneath the pillows.

"Pep?" He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight in front of him.

"Mmm." She responded with a groan.

He hummed in concern and casually walked towards her. She had to have remembered about their big date, right? Tony pressed his lips together at the beautiful sight in front of him and plopped down next to her. His butt was on the edge of the bed with her side pressed against it.

"Pepper, honey." He whispered lovingly. He stroked her back with his hand.

"Mmm." She groaned again, but this time, she turned her head to face him. Her eyes squinted up at him in annoyance. "What?" She grumbled.

"Tired?" He asked her with a small smile.

"Work…" She paused and grumbled some more. "…Headache… Didn't feel good."

Tony nodded once. "So, I'm guessing you forgot about our big date?"

She shot him a narrow eyed look. "What big date?"

"Okay." He smirked before pressing his lips together. "Well—"

"Oh god." She gasped. Before he could react, her body shot up in horror. His arm was now draped across her lap. She hissed in pain and pressed her fingers against her forehead.

"You okay?" He asked with a hint of affection. His voice was hoarse and, in Pepper's ears, absolutely adorable and irresistible. He lowered her hand and gently pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.

"Pachini's." She gasped. The memories of how hard, and how long, it took her to get that reservation rapidly played through her mind.

"You're hot, Pepper." He pressed his palm against her forehead.

She ignored his dual comment. "Even with your billionaire, super hero, egotistical status, we still couldn't get an earlier reservation." She smacked his hand away.

"It's okay—" He tried to tell her.

"No." She interjected sternly. "Six months, Stark. Six months it took us to get that reservation. Where's my pants?"

His eyes briefly ventured down past the hem of her tank top, and noticed her purple short shorts. His interest was already peaking; in efforts to get his mind straight, he shook his head. "Uh, no. Pepper, you need to stay in bed."

His hand stopped her from moving off the bed. As her eyes adjusted to the slight darkness, her hands roamed along his black Armani blazer, silky dark purple dress shirt, and black slacks. She looked down at his attire.

"This is—"

"The suit you like so much?" He grinned wildly at her. "I have a habit of remembering which suits you can't wait to rip off of me."

She tried not to smile. "If I weren't sick, that part would've already happened."

"Don't worry about dinner, Pepper." He tried to reassure her. "I'm sure we can reschedule."

She tried to swing her legs off the bed, but noticed his butt was in the way. "They're not Chuck-E-Cheese's, Tony. You can't just reschedule whenever you want to – and move your butt."

He couldn't help but smirk at her comment. "And here I thought you loved my butt, of course, that's with keeping last night in mind."

She nudged him in the ribs. "You're incorrigible."

He pressed his hand against her stomach to stop her from moving. "Pepper, you have a fever. You should stay here and rest."

"I'm—"

He stopped her. "I don't want to hear the F-word."

"Tony—" She practically groaned.

"I'm actually surprised you sleep with this." He gestured towards the red fluffy blanket. "Especially after what I called it."

She shrugged. "It's comfy."

"Right." He smirked. "Stay in bed, and I'll make you some soup."

He motioned to get up and off the bed, but he stopped when he felt her hand yank on his wrist. He hummed in confusion.

"Soup?" She asked questionably.

"Did you want something else?" He raised his eyebrows at her, almost baffled. "I didn't know you were this picky, Potts."

"It's not the food I'm worried about." She eyed him carefully. "I'm more worried about my kitchen and whether or not you're going to burn it down to the ground."

"Please." He held up a hand. "I know how to cook soup."

She immediately shook her head at him. "I swear to god, Stark. If you end up burning down my apartment—"

"All the more reason to move in with me." His grin began to blossom. He pressed a small kiss to her forehead and gently pushed her shoulders back. When she finally lay down, he affectionately squeezed her hand, and draped the red blanket back over her. "I'll be right back."

When he got to her kitchen, he immediately went through her cupboards. He saw canned fruit, canned vegetables, and condiments, but no canned soup. He finally found a can of Chicken Noodle Soup on top of her fridge. He popped the easy-open lid, and dumped it in a small pot.

Tony took out his Stark Phone. "Okay, JARVIS, time to work your magic." He mumbled to himself. "You there?"

"Yes, Sir." The AI responded.

"I need a crash course in soup prep." He quickly stated, placing the pot on top of the stove.

"It may not be any of my business, Sir, but I advise you to _turn on_ the stove."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at the appliance. He turned the knob that was off to the side, and sparks rang through his ears. "Know-it-all." He grumbled angrily.

"Upon reading the instructions on the side of the can, as well as online, I suggest you add at least one cup of water to the soup base." The AI suggested.

Tony grabbed the discarded can and twisted it around until he saw the instructions. "Oh, hey, directions." He could've sworn he heard JARVIS respond with a heavy sigh.

"One cup." Tony poured a cup of water into the pot.

JARVIS provided Tony step by step instructions, and much to their surprise, the kitchen was far from burned down, if not a little messy.

Pepper's nose was abruptly struck with the familiar scent of Chicken Noodle Soup. Her eyes ventured towards the door, and saw the steamy bowl of soup in front of a very handsome and familiar face. Tony grinned at her and carefully carried the bowl; a napkin wrapped around a spoon was tucked under the bowl, and held in place with his thumb.

"Soup for a super hero's lovely, and sick, girlfriend?"

He placed the steaming bowl of soup on top of her nightstand nearest to her side of the bed, and plopped down next to her legs. Pepper swung her legs to the side of the bed and faced the dark brown table.

His rough engineering hands brushed against her soft delicate ones when he handed her the spoon and napkin, making him eagerly rub her back with his free hand in warmth.

After the first spoonful, and the lack of abrupt spitting of said liquid, he asked her in curiosity, "How's the soup?"

She began to nod with a smile. "Not half bad."

He grinned back at her. "See, I'm a wonderful cook – and what's more amazing is that your apartment is still standing."

Pepper began to laugh and eventually leaned into his embrace. He hugged her gently and ushered her to eat some more soup. She complied willingly and drank the whole bowl. The spoon hit the edge of the bowl with a clang as she found herself leaning against his chest.

"Feeling better?" He asked with a smile.

"A little." Her lips curled upwards.

"Did you want some Advil?"

"Already took some when you were in the kitchen." She closed her eyes before gently nuzzling his neck with her nose.

"Mm." He hummed in content. "Want me to stay with you for the night?"

She opened her eyes, and began to eye him carefully. "The last time I got sick, you practically threw me out of your house right after you shouted, 'Ew, germs. Get them away from me'."

Tony chuckled at the sudden remembrance of said event. He pressed a loving kiss to the top of her head, and mumbled, "That was before we became a couple."

"My germs fascinate you now?" She whispered seductively.

His ears perked up. "They do more than fascinate me." He growled.

Pepper breathed a laugh. "I should go to bed. My boss hates it when I'm late for work in the morning."

Tony began to smirk at her sarcastic comment. "I'm sure he won't mind."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Let's just say," he paused to pull her against his chest. "He's very understanding."

She grinned against his neck and rubbed his stomach with her hand in endearment.

"Got any spare clothes for me to change into?"

"I have your white AC/DC t-shirt in the bottom drawer."

Tony got up from the bed and opened the bottom drawer. He found various other t-shirts of his and even some of his boxers. He smirked at the sight, "How come you have more of my boxers than I do?"

"I keep forgetting to give them back to you." She simply stated. Both of them knew that was not the case. Truth was she loved wearing his boxers to bed. She wasn't quite sure why; she thought it was because she was most comfortable in them, especially when they were oozing with his smell.

He began to change into his white t-shirt. "I think you've just given me a permanent mental image of your body strutting around this apartment in my clothes." He paused to loop the t-shirt through his head. "Such a turn on."

She rolled her eyes at his comment. It seemed every thing she did was a turn on to him.

Tony laid his Armani suit and pants on top of her dresser and hopped into bed with her. He settled under the sheets with a sigh of content, and felt her hands immediately wrap around his middle. He draped his arm across her shoulders, and allowed her to rest her head against his chest.

"You know, I don't think I've ever spent the night in your apartment." He said with a hint of curiosity.

"You have." She said abruptly.

He furrowed her eyebrows at her. "When?"

"You were drunk one night. It was at some sleazy party." She started out. "Happy called me in the middle of the night and told me what happened. I told him to bring you here since he sounded tired."

"I have no recollection of that." He pressed his lips together.

"After spending most of the night in my bathroom, you refused to sleep on the couch."

He bit his bottom lip. "So, all this time, I've slept with you and I hadn't known it." He nodded to himself. "Sounds about right."

She breathed a laugh. "You didn't make it to the bed. You ended up drooling on the carpet."

"Oh." He mouthed.

"Thanks for making me soup." She rubbed his stomach.

"It's what super hero billionaire boyfriends do, Pep." He grinned at her.

"We'll have to reschedule our date for another time."

"I'm sure I can bribe Pachini's to let us move our reservation. If not, then Iron Man can." Tony simply shrugged, as if 'bribing' with Iron Man was no big deal.

"Tony." She chastised him.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"You know, this is the first time you've ever taken care of me." She noted.

He shot her an award winning smile. "Impressed?"

"Mm, I'll have to think about it."

He laughed it off and began to lean in for a kiss, but Pepper immediately leaned away.

"Tony." She breathed.

Confusion washed over him. "What?"

"I'm sick."

He shrugged it off. "So?"

"You'll get sick if you kiss me." She tried to warn him, but his consistent advances were futile. His nose pressed gently against hers; his forehead almost touched hers. He grinned like a boy in a candy shop and slowly pressed his lips against hers. Pepper closed her eyes in satisfaction and hummed against him. Tony pressed her against his side to deepen the kiss, but before they knew it, they were pulling away from the sudden lack of oxygen.

"Mm," Tony hummed in content as his lips formed a smile. "Pepper germs."

She responded by digging her nose in the crook of his neck, and grinning wildly.

In about three days, Tony had come down with a sudden cold. She told him more than once that 'she told him so'. But he immediately waved that idea away with the flick of his hand and was highly convinced he got sick from Dummy's lack of hygiene.

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**A/N: Back on Lake Pepperony to fish for more reviews**


	3. Chapter 3

Tony looked out the window with narrow eyes. He slid his hands up and down his arms, looking for warmth.

"I can't believe we're trapped in here." Pepper exclaimed from the bed. Her back was against the headboard, and her body was engulfed in all of the bed sheets and blankets they could find.

"You're the one that wanted to go on a skiing trip." He countered as he shivered in his denim jeans, brown cotton t-shirt, and black cotton jacket.

"We haven't even made it to the slopes yet, Tony. I told you we should've waited for Happy before gallivanting off to the cabin." Pepper responded angrily through her teeth. Even with the blankets bundled around her, she still shivered like a leaf.

"How long do you think it'll take Happy to carry our entire luggage up here?" He asked, looking through the window again.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Seeing as how the line to check-in was about as long as your—"

"Naughty…" He drew out under his breath.

"—Ego." She finished, glaring at him, and his tendency for innuendo. "It's going to take him at least thirty minutes before he realizes that we're trapped in this cabin underneath all this snow – And why isn't there a heater in here?"

"This is an environmental cabin, Pepper. There is no heater, and there are no outlets." He told her as he made his way towards her shivering form.

"Whose bright idea was to book this?" She began to shout under the mental frustration overcame her.

He plopped onto the bed, beside her, and leaned against the headboard. "Uh…" He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Yours?"

She groaned from the remembrance. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I did." He tried not to smile at her. "I complained about it until you threatened to schedule video conferences back to back – and then you said you'd withhold sex—"

Her head hit his shoulder abruptly. "This is horrible."

"It's just a little snow, Pep." He tried to calm her down before wrapping his arm around her blanket padded shoulders. She leaned into his chest, and almost gasped from the sudden drop in temperature when her forehead hit his neck. "What? I thought you were okay with my cooties." He joked.

"You're cold."

"That's a new one." He frowned at her insult.

"No, I mean temperature-wise." She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm fine." He tried to tell her.

Pepper opened up the blankets and snuggled against his body before draping them over their bodies. Tony grinned in adoration, and welcomed her advances with open arms. He massaged the side of her waist with his hand that was draped over her shoulders, and placed a small kiss on her forehead.

She smiled and hummed in content; her arm rested on his chest and her hand lay on top of the arc reactor.

"Benefits of an avalanche." Tony murmured under his breath.

The warmth of each other's body vibrated between them, allowing a small cloud of heat to engulf them both.

She chuckled. "So, you're happy that we're trapped in here without any food, or anything we need to survive?"

"Who needs that stuff when you've got each other?" He said quickly. His hand rubbed her shoulder in search for more warmth.

"Mm." She hummed. "Read that from a book?" She patted his chest before looking up at him.

He gasped. "I'm offended you would even think of me as that shallow." He tried to sound hurt.

"Was it when you slept over at my apartment?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"It was the book on the counter. The bookmark did the rest." He admitted with a grin.

Pepper hummed in thought before closing her eyes. Her mind was wrapping around the feeling of being in Tony's arms. Her mentality was calming down. The frustration she felt a few moments ago were now gone. It was a wonder how one human being could be such a pain in the butt, but also be a beacon of serenity.

The feeling of his warm skin against hers always made her melt. She would snuggle up to him in the middle of the night in search for warmth, and out of habit, he would wrap his arm lovingly around her waist.

"If I had the suit with me…" Tony trailed off, severing her train of thought.

"Where is the suit?"

Tony bit his bottom lip before humming. "With the luggage." He felt her body shiver under his hold. "You okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "It's just a little cold."

"What… is my body not good enough for you?" He asked jokingly, but a heavy frown appeared on his face.

She chuckled against his chest and tried to pull him closer. He leaned in with a smile in hopes of scoring a kiss, but the turn of her head made him stop.

"Tony." She giggled.

"What?" He grinned back.

"We're not exactly brimming with oxygen right now, considering our _situation_." She tried to tell him.

He groaned inwardly. "That's no fun." He grumbled. "Let's play a game."

She decided to play along. "Okay. What game?"

"Spin the bottle?" He waggled his eyebrows at her, but received a shake of her head.

"No."

"Oh, c'mon, Pep—"

"There are only two of us, and we don't even have a bottle."

"We can improvise." He suggested. "We'll just pretend the bottle lands on us every single time, so we can skip the game and just make out under the sheets."

"You're incorrigible." She mumbled sternly.

He continued. "You know there are other things that could keep us warm?"

"Like what?"

"Sex."

"No."

"But, Pepperrrr, Why not?" He drew out huskily. His bottom lip puffed out in an irresistible pout, one that Pepper found incredibly _hard_ to look at without wanting to attack him with her lips.

"Any moment, Happy will come knocking on the window, asking us if we're okay. I'd rather be able to tell him 'We're fine' rather than respond with—"

"Moaning my name?" He beamed at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him; her cheeks grew a soft shade of pink. Tony couldn't help but smile, as his fascination with making her blush grew each day.

"Yes."

Tony let a few seconds pass before continuing the conversation. "It'll only take—"

"No." She said curtly.

It had been another five minutes before Happy was shouting through the snow asking if they were okay. It took another couple of hours to get a team of people to shovel the snow out from the entrance of the cabin.

That same night, Tony and Pepper played spin the bottle with Happy uncomfortably sitting next to them.


	4. Chapter 4

"What the hell, Pepper!" Tony exclaimed angrily. His dark purple tie was loosely hung around his neck, and a couple of the buttons at the top of his dress shirt were undone. His black blazer hung over the couch along with Pepper's purple elegant sweater.

It was weird to think that today had been their anniversary, especially since they were getting into a fight right after their extravagant and special dinner at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.

A few months ago, Tony and Pepper went to a Charity Benefit for the Children's Hospital, and her best friend, Hillary Swan, had also made an appearance. On the way to the benefit, Pepper gave Tony the run down of her best friend; they had been through elementary school, middle school, high school, and college together. They had kept in touch all their life, and when Hillary heard that Pepper was dating Tony, she immediately wanted to meet him.

Pepper had specifically remembered Hillary meeting all of her other boyfriends, and she remembers exactly how she treated them. Hillary was the jealous and 'if you hurt my best friend I'll chop off your treasured body parts' type of person. So, having Tony meet Hillary was something she had wanted to see.

Indeed, Hillary did the whole thing, making Tony widen his eyes in, what looked like, shock and fear.

What Pepper didn't know was that while she was dragged away from the two to talk to some of the other CEOs of various prestigious companies that had also donated a generous sum to the Children's Hospitals, her best friend had been hitting on her boyfriend.

Tony saw it coming from the very beginning, and what made matters worse was that Hillary was advancing quite forcefully on him. She had tried to kiss him on the lips more than once, and succeeded in kissing his neck a few times. He was pretty sure she tried to grab everything below the belt, as well.

He, of course, felt really uncomfortable, and had told her to stop multiple times. On the way back from their anniversary dinner, Pepper had gotten a lot of drunken texts from Hillary, and most of them were confessions of that night at the benefit.

"Shut up, Tony." Pepper chastised him through her teeth. She looked pissed; well beyond that pissed look she gives me when I spend a whole day in the workshop, Tony observed. Pepper walked absent mindedly around the living room. She was still in her silk black strapless dress that she wore to their anniversary dinner.

However, he thought that he didn't deserve any of her attitude, so he continued his argument. "You're _mad_ at me for _not_ cheating on you?" Tony yelled at her.

"Yes!" She exclaimed back; her gaze locked with his in an instant. "You should've told me that she was hitting on you!"

"Why?" He shouted.

She couldn't keep herself from shouting back at him. "Because you're my boyfriend, Tony—"

"She's your best friend!" He snapped at her. She shook her head at him.

"You're not my boss, Tony. You don't need to tell me what I can and cannot handle." She murmured calmly.

"You're straying away from the damn topic, Pepper." His voice rose. She folded her arms across her chest in disbelief, and continued to stare at him. "What I don't get is why you're so _pissed_ at me for not cheating on you."

"You kept the whole thing a secret, Tony. That's why I'm so pissed at you." She told him.

"Yes!" He waved his arms. "I kept it a secret because she's your best friend!" He tried not to mess up his hair with his hands in frustration. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I broke you two up because she flirted with me?" He cried out.

She shook her head at him. "I would've talked to her, Tony. I wouldn't have jeopardized our friendship because of it."

"You're acting as if I really _did_ cheat on you with your best friend." He saw the anger in her eyes and tried to take a different route in the argument. "I love you, Pepper. I wouldn't dream of cheating on you, not after all we've been through."

Pepper felt her stomach warm up when she heard those loving words come out of his mouth, but her anger was far higher than she would've liked it to be. "I should go." She ultimately said. She reached for her purse and sweater.

His eyes widened in shock, unable to understand why she was leaving. "Why?"

"I'm just—"

He walked up to her, and placed his hands on her waist in attempt to try and stop her from leaving. His touch sent burning sensations whizzing throughout her body. "Pepper, I get that you're a little pissed off about it…" She looked up at him; they held each other's soft gaze. "… but it's our anniversary."

"I know." She sighed, swinging her purse on her shoulder.

"So stay." He pleaded huskily. "Forget about what happened." He needed her tonight; he wanted to show her how much he loved her.

"I can't, Tony." Pepper looked away. "My best friend practically lunged herself at you, and my boyfriend didn't even think it was important enough to tell me."

"Pepper…" He drew out with a heavy sigh.

Tony laid his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, hoping that she would change her mind and stay with him to drown the night with each other's presence. She leaned in and kissed his lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She slipped out of his grasp.

He closed his eyes in regret. "Please don't go."

She turned around from the doorway and smiled sweetly at him. "Thanks for dinner, Tony. It was really nice." Pain shot through his entire body as her form was almost out the door. He couldn't bring himself to look up at her. "Happy anniversary." She murmured before leaving and closing the door.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He didn't know what to think about the water that formed at the corner of his eyes. He wasn't sure if he was crying because of how much he had wished she had stayed, or because of how he had pictured their perfect anniversary to be.

He walked into their bedroom to put away his blazer, and change his clothes. When he opened the door, he immediately noticed the red rose petals and unlit candles that were placed elegantly around the room. He sighed in frustration and angrily avoided all of the decorations to get to the closet.

When he walked downstairs to his workshop, he had forgotten about the bottle of champagne and white wine he placed in a bucket of ice. He didn't even want to touch, or even look, at the damn thing.

He turned on his computers with the snap of his fingers and ran his hand down his face in pure annoyance. He had walked through all of the effort he had put into their perfect even; the effort he was hoping to witness with his girlfriend in his arms.

Before he could even curse under his breath in anger, Sting's famous husky, and loving, voice suddenly bounced loudly against the concrete walls of his workshop. He looked up from his distraught pose, and saw all of the holographic images of red hearts and roses floating around his workshop.

He had almost forgotten about that one. What would've been schematics, plans, and blueprints for his next mechanical designs, or ideas, was replaced with roses, hearts, and rarely tiny Arc Reactors.

He turned around to look at the spare Iron Man suits standing behind him and almost lost it when he saw the holographic red beating hearts in front of the Arc Reactors.

He leaned into his chair, closed his eyes, and ran his hand through his face once more and heavily sighed. When he removed his hand and opened his eyes, he lost it; tiny holographic fireworks, complete with audio and the whole shebang, revealed bright and neon text the read, 'Happy Anniversary, Pepper'.

"I'm such a sap." Tony murmured to himself.

…

"I can't believe you did that, Hillary." Pepper chastised her friend through the phone. Pepper was on her living room couch in her tank top and sweatpants pajama combo.

"You can't blame me, Ginny." Hillary drew out a breath, trying to sober up. "The man is hot."

"He's my boyfriend!" Pepper couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes, I know that." Hillary sipped on some water. "You know I feel bad about it – and hey, if he didn't shove me away and told me to stop, then he's certainly not the right guy for you."

Pepper shook her head and massaged her forehead with her thumb and index finger. She thought about it for a minute and tried to hide her smile. "I guess."

"If he _did_ kiss me, I would've immediately told you to break up with him."

"And if I did, would you be all over him?" Pepper raised an eyebrow. She let the gap between her shoulder and cheek hold the phone up.

"Hey," Hillary grinned. "If the man isn't right for you, then he isn't right for me. No one wants a cheating hot mess as a boyfriend."

Pepper giggled into the phone. Her smile when flat when she got around to the question she meant to ask her. "I know this seems like a really weird and horrible question to ask, but why didn't you tell me about this?"

"You mean about how I tried to kiss your boyfriend and how he tried to stop me?" Hillary asked. Pepper had known Hillary to be a very blunt person. Hell, she even told Pepper about that time she had sex with one of their college classmates in the janitor's closet, who also ended up being her ex-boyfriend. Many people wondered why she and Hillary were best friends after Hillary had slept with a few of her ex-boyfriends, but no one will understand the bond they've had or the struggling times they've been through together.

"Yes." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"You wouldn't believe what the man had told me when he asked me to stop." Hillary began to laugh. "Ginny, the man has it out for you. I swear, if five hundred Victoria Secret models were in front of him, he'd sift through the crowd looking for you."

"Mm." Pepper hummed in content. "Let's not tell him about that time I modeled for Victoria Secret in graduate school."

Hillary giggled for a few minutes before taking another sip of water. "The man loves you, Ginny. He really does." She paused for a minute to grin to herself. "I will formally mail him my stamp of approval."

"The famous stamp of approval that has never been given out before?" Pepper exclaimed before grinning. They laughed about it for a good minute before the ping of Pepper's doorbell interrupted their chat. "Hold on, Hillary. Someone is at the door."

Pepper opened the door with her phone against her shoulder and couldn't help but grin at the handsome sight in front of her.

"Tony." She breathed.

Tony's face was drenched in the cold rain. His hair was a wet mess, as was his denim jeans and grey cotton t-shirt. His Arc Reactor shined through the damp t-shirt a bit. He looked at her softly with a small frown. Pepper could barely form complete sentences until Hillary's voice was booming through the speakers of her phone.

"Tell Tony I said hi!" Hillary called out.

Pepper grinned nervously and brought her phone to her ear. "I'll call you later, Hillary." She hung up.

"I know I'm the last person you want to see, Pep." He spoke softly with the rain thundering behind him. When she didn't respond, he continued, "Can I come in?"

Pepper nodded without thinking and let him in. She grabbed a dry t-shirt and the pair of sweatpants he had given her one night. He silently changed into them before joining her on the couch in her living room. When he sat down, drops of water from his hair padded the cushions.

Pepper grabbed a towel from one of the cupboards in the hallway and began rub his head dry.

"Did you walk here?" She jokingly asked.

"I drove here." He answered with a slight smile. "I… I – um—I was outside for a good half hour, trying to think."

"Tony, this is just a tiff. It's not the end of the world." She forcefully rubbed his head with the towel, making him lean to the side.

"I know." He murmured. "But I didn't want this to happen, especially on our anniversary."

When she finished drying her hair, he had turned his head to face her. His soft sparkling brown eyes had almost punched a hole in her stomach. His face was so full of regret and sadness; it took every ounce of will she had to keep herself from kissing him.

"Don't beat yourself up about this." She told her. "It's my fault for overreacting."

He shrugged. "You had ever right to overreact, Pepper. I would probably get angry too if I found out Rhodey had tried to kiss you."

Pepper couldn't help but grin at him.

"But… you know…" Tony shrugged again. "I'd kick his ass for doing it."

She tossed his damp hair with her hand in affection. "Boys."

His lips drew out a charming smile, one that made her melt instantly.

"I'm sorry if I ruined our anniversary." She murmured with a small frown. "I know how much effort you put into it."

"It's not your fault." He leaned against her. She caught him with a small giggle, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed his head. She was thankful for his understanding because without him, she wasn't sure how she'd sleep at night. He kissed the inside of her elbow and snuggled further into her hold. "It's not like I need a traditional day to show how much I love you."

A grin plastered across her face. She treasured this side of him so much; the sweet side of Tony Stark. She often wondered why he loved her so much. She would storm out of his place whenever she could hardly look at him without tearing him apart, but he'd always come back to her in hopes of making amends. She felt like she was being selfish, but maybe it was his way of making up for the first ten agonizing years they've known each other. The back of his head was close to her chest, and when he looked up to gaze at her, he asked, "You okay?"

She gazed down at him sweetly, and kissed him softly. They closed their eyes, and let their silently cries of passion and adoration take over. She kissed him a couple more times, and allowed him to kiss her back, before pulling away.

He opened his eyes slowly, and found her face mere centimeters away from hers. Their noses were touching, and that loving smile he had grown to admire was spread across her lips.

"I love you, Tony."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I personally apologize to Guest, seeing as how the person really didn't like the last chapter. It was something i thought of, and thought it would be a nice addition to the series, but i guess you were against it. It saddens me to see three hours of typing wasted, but life goes on.**

**This one will be short.**

**Disclaimer: Nothing of mine**

**Credit: Thought of after reading Bad Dream by Wildefire21 :)**

**Read and enjoy!**

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Pepper began thrashing in her sleep. The beads of cold sweat disappeared under the cool white sheets of Tony's bed. She stopped for a second to whimper a bit before fall back into slumber, but moments later, she thrashed in her sleep again. This time, she jolted up in a small gasp.

She sat there in the middle of his bed, eyes widened in shock and fear as they searched for the lump of his presence beside her. When she realized she was alone in the bedroom, she pressed her hands against her head and groaned loudly. Her hair was a mess, as it strewn in different angles along her shoulders.

It was the third time she's had these types of horrid dreams, and they weren't getting any easier to deal with, especially when they involved Tony.

"JARVIS?" She asked in a sleepy tone.

"Yes, Miss Potts?" The AI responded rather quickly. "Would you like me to tell you today's agenda?"

"Um, no." She squinted. "Is Tony home?"

"He's downstairs in the workshop."

Pepper got out of bed and slipped into one of Tony's t-shirts lying on the dresser. Thankfully, it wasn't one of his greasy shirts that he always left lying around. Her feet padded across the hallway, through the living room, and down the stairs leading to his workshop. When she glanced through the window, she spotted his usual form; his back was to the door, probably working on something for the suit, or fiddling with his ideas using the holograph.

The sound of the door opening rang through Tony's ears. When he turned around, he saw her elegant, messy, and oh-so-beautiful form walking towards him. He hummed lightly and smiled at her.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hi." Her lips formed a smile as well.

He noticed her attire and couldn't stop smiling. "You know, I love it when you wear one of my t-shirts."

She hummed in response, and walked towards the couch. He glanced at his monitor for the time and followed her worriedly.

"You okay?" He asked. "You're not usually up this early."

She sat down on the couch and tried not to think of the reoccurring nightmares. "Yeah…" She said faintly.

He sat down next to her and noticed how anxious she was. She scooted next to him and he welcomed her body with open arms. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. He could feel the departure of sweat on her body. He kissed the top of her head and let her rest against his chest.

"You sure?" He asked again. "I'm no expert in relationships, but when a guy asks his girlfriend if she's okay, and she says she's fine, and he accepts it, a fight is sure to ensue. Which could also lead to breaking up, and along the road, make-up sex."

Pepper grinned from his prying words, and looked up at him to kiss the bottom of his chin. "It's just…" She paused to collect her thoughts. "I've been having nightmares lately."

His worry was increasing. "What kind of dreams?"

"Do you still have nightmares of Afghanistan?" She asked him gently.

He shrugged slightly. "They kind of disappeared after you agreed to join me in the sack."

She breathed a laugh at his choice of words.

He smiled warmly. "But, sometimes when you're at your apartment instead of my place, they come back."

She frowned. "You should've told me."

"Granted I wanted to, but I can't make you stay here against your will, especially for something as stupid as nightmares." He squeezed her.

"That didn't stop you from doing it for the first ten years of our professional relationship." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"True." He laughed.

"I just keep seeing your face in mine…" She started. Tony bent his head down to press his cheek against hers in adoration. "…They would hold you down… And then they would scream something at me. I could never make out what they were saying, because my ears were ringing. I couldn't talk… all I could do was stare, and watch as they pushed you against the ground and killed you right in front of me." She brought her hand up to her mouth to stop herself from crying.

Tony moved her so she sat on his lap. He pressed her body against his chest, allowing the Arc Reactor to illuminate its blue glow against her face. He quietly shushed her to calm her down as her body began to recover from the anxiety.

"I'm right here, Pepper." He quietly told her in efforts to calm her down. His hand rubbed her back.

"I hate it when you go out on missions in the middle of the night." She told him through sniffles. She turned her head to look at him, revealing the puffiness and redness of her eyes.

"I know." He nodded as he pressed his lips together.

"And when you don't come back for a few days—"

"I know, Pepper." He repeated; he gave her lips a quick kiss, and wrapped her arms around her body to hug her.

She closed her eyes to inhale his scent, to remember his warmth, and to remember how rough his goatee was against her skin. She knew after eight o'clock, the hours of Tony and Pepper would disappear, and the long arduous hours of Miss Potts, and Mister Stark would begin. So, this was her time to remember every bit of his personality that no one else in the world knows about.

He eventually released her hold on her. "Did you want me to come back upstairs with you?"

"You don't have to. I just wanted to know if you were home." She responded with a weak smile.

He rested his forehead against her cheek. "You know I'll always come back to you, right?"

"I know." She moved her head to rest it against his chest, right next to the glowing Arc Reactor.

"I love you." He whispered to her.

"I love you too, Tony." She said before her eyes closed.

Tony sat there with her on his lap until he noticed her breathing evened out. He gently picked her up and laid her back down on the couch. He grabbed one of the blankets from the lower cabinet and laid it on top of her body. She snuggled against it, and hummed in content. Tony pressed a small kiss to the top of her forehead and grinned to himself before he got back to work.

He tried to work as quietly as possible to prevent waking up Pepper, but he could've made as much noise as he wanted since she was in a deep sleep that could only be accomplished with his presence in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I do accept criticism, but please be aware that I, 100 percent, write fanfiction for the fun of it. It makes me happy to see other people happy when reading my stories. So, when the fun gets sucked out of writing...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Read and enjoy!**

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The thunder boomed outside just as the rain pounded against the windows in her living room. Pepper squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to sit on the couch with a flashlight and a book. She wasn't particularly afraid of thunder storms, seeing as how she had to get used to them growing up, but the blackout only made it one-hundred times worse.

She looked outside to see lightning light up the sky for a brief second and then listened to the rain against the windows. She snuggled further into her two layers of blanket and brought up the flashlight to continue reading.

The blackout started about two hours ago, and ten minutes after, she tried calling Tony at his mansion, but JARVIS picked up and informed her that he was on a mission. All she could imagine in this dark and dreary atmosphere was to cuddle up next to Tony and fall asleep in his arms.

She heavily sighed as her thoughts began to make her blush. She looked down at the book in her lap and blamed her sudden thoughts on the tiny writing in the corner: romance novel.

She closed the book and placed it on the table in front of her. She got up and let the blankets fall along her shoulders. Her feet padded across the white rug flooring and towards the kitchen. She opened the fridge and rummaged around the darkened space for something to eat.

Her hand reached in for an apple in the back, but something caught her attention. She heard the familiar jiggle of the doorknob. Her head snapped to the door that was a few feet away from her. Her heart beat loudly as the jiggle got louder.

Her pulse quickened as she quietly closed the refrigerator door. She made her way to the living room and grabbed the softball bat that was laying on the bookshelf like a trophy. Her sweaty hands gripped the handle of the bat as she slowly made her way towards the doorway. She looked around for a suitable place to attack and ended up shoving herself in the corner of the kitchen nearest to the door.

When the door clicked open, the pounding of her heart could be heard from miles away. She closed her eyes and prayed that whoever was breaking into her apartment wasn't a trained martial artist. The footsteps of the person stopped.

Pepper opened her eyes and listened intently. She half thought the person left, but when the door shut and the footsteps grew louder, her heart almost leapt out of her chest. She placed one hand over her mouth to keep herself from squealing, and waited until the footsteps came closer.

She took a slow, quiet, and deep breath before placing her hand back on the handle of the softball bat. She closed her eyes shut and dove out from around the corner. She let all of her frustrations and stress out with a yell as her arms swung with fury.

She felt the bat hit the person more than twice, but what she failed to realize was what the person tried yelling back at her. She didn't stop until after the third hit; that's when she got the courage to open her eyes to take a good look at the guy.

"Pepper, stop!" Tony yelled for the second time. His forearm was up in the air, trying to defend him from her attacks.

Pepper almost hit him with the bat a fourth time before her refined reflexes stopped her. She stopped midway and widened her eyes at him.

"Tony." She gasped.

He winced in pain. "Wow, Thor has competition." He lowered his arms just as she lowered the bat.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him and smiled. A giggle almost escaped her lips. "What are you doing here? JARVIS told me you were out."

"I got back ten minutes ago, and JARVIS said you called." He shrugged off his soaked black jacket to reveal his white cotton t-shirt, as well as the soft blue glow of the Arc Reactor.

She grinned at him and his unusual ability to calm down her nerves with just his presence. "I hope I didn't hurt you."

"You took a good shot at my ribs, but I think they're just sore from the mission." He told her before looking around her apartment. Pepper shook her head and him and went to return the bat to its normal place. "Your power is out."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

He smirked at her. "Not to boost my ego – well, scratch that – my ego could use the enhancement, but did you call me to save you from this nightmare?"

"Hardly." She breathed a laugh before turning around to face him. "I wanted to use your Arc Reactor as a reading light. The flashlight I was using is almost out of juice."

He narrowed her eyes at her. "Funny. It's nice to know you like to think of me as a tool."

"Mm." She hummed lowly. "More like a Swiss Army Knife."

He walked towards her with a wide grin and enveloped her with his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him lightly. She felt the face of the Arc Reactor press against her chest, and that's when she heard him hiss in pain. She pulled away slowly and glanced down at his chest, worried that she hurt him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Well, I _did _just say I got back from the mission ten minutes ago." He reminded her with a small shrug. She shook her head at him and sighed.

"You couldn't have put ice on it when you got back?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well—"

"I mean, you didn't _have_ to come here. It's not like I was in dire need of you." She finished with a huff.

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Forgive me for trying to be your knight in shining armor." He rolled his eyes. "I—I was just—I was worried about you."

She stared at him for a second before grinning to herself. Her heart instantly warmed up as he joined her with his own charming smile. She lowered her head to rest it against his shoulder. He was worried about her? Of course, he told her that a million times before, but just the way he said it with his husky voice and a smile – she wanted to melt. She could feel his hands rubbing her back in reassurance.

She brought her head up. "I'll see if the ice packs in my freezer didn't melt." She unwrapped herself from his embrace and walked over to the kitchen.

He frowned in pain as he brought his hand up to rub his chest. "You know, you should really talk to Thor, God of Silky Hair, about those swings. He could sure learn a thing or two from you."

She came out from the kitchen with two soft, but still slightly cold, ice packs in her hands. She gestured towards the couch and handed him the packs. He settled down on the comfortable and spacious couch while she walked into her bathroom to get the first aid kit. When she came back out, she found him half-lying on the couch with his hands holding the packs down on his chest and ribs. She sat down next to him with her legs to the side and opened up the kit. She rubbed a cotton swab with antibacterial liquid and dabbed the cuts on his forehead and cheek.

He hummed in pain and childishly swatted her hand away. She smiled and shook her head at him. "You're such a child, Tony."

"Do I get a lollipop?" He childishly grinned at her.

"You're incorrigible." She shot back, trying to lift his shirt up.

"And you're trying to strip me—Hey!" He yelped. "Your hands are cold." True, they were cold from the drop in temperature in her apartment, but every time her hand touched his skin, they sent burning signals through her body.

"Give me the ice pack."

"No, you're going to—" She snatched the ice pack from his hand and pressed it against his naked ribs. He yelped from the cold touch of the pack. "You're mean."

She placed her hand on top of his bare stomach and rubbed it endearingly.

"You know, I never did apologize for missing our date last week." He spoke with a small frown.

"You didn't have to, Tony." She responded before patting his stomach and rolling his shirt down. She turned away to close the first aid kit that was on top of the table. Before she could move another inch, she felt his strong arm wrap around her waist and pressed her against his side.

She felt the ice pack's coldness press against her stomach. She looked up at him with a reassuring smile.

"But… we were going to have Fondue, and you know how much I love it when you make fondue." He pouted with his bottom lip sticking out.

She smiled. "I enjoyed my time alone with a good book, a warm bath, and a fondue dinner. Needless to say, I think I needed it."

His mouth opened in shock. "Let me get this straight." He paused to furrow his eyebrows at her. "You were naked, in the bathtub, eating fondue, god knows what you were reading—and I wasn't there? This is a crime."

She laughed against his shoulder.

"I'm serious, Potts." He grimaced.

She placed her hand on the pack that was on his chest and uncovered it to reveal the beautiful glow of the Arc Reactor. He covered her hand with his and pressed the pack against his stomach.

"I'm hurt." He told her. "It—It feels like I need fondue and a naked Pepper to make everything feel better."

She laughed again and shook her head. She missed these moments between them. He'd say something funny and probably over the top inappropriate, and she'd just shake her head at him. It was weird how his presence could make her feel so different. She'd be working furiously with a headache, and then he'd stick his head through the door with that charming smile of his, making her headache disappear and work a thing of the past.

His lips formed a warm smile, and she gladly returned it. She leaned in slowly, laid her hand against his Arc Reactor, allowing the glow to light up their faces. She pressed her lips against his in a slow and loving way. His hand on her back pressed her against him to deepen the kiss, but when her hand pushed against his RT, he had to pull away.

"Ow, ow, ow." He gasped.

She pulled away instantly and hissed through her teeth. "Are you okay?"

He fluttered his eyes in efforts to suppress the pain. "I could use that naked fondue thing, right now."

She beamed at him while her thumb rubbed against his. He smiled back and leaned in for another kiss, but the loud booming behind them made her breath noticeably hitch. She buried her head in between his neck and shoulder, and hummed in fear.

He tried not to laugh as he brought his hand up to rub her back. "Please don't tell me you're one of those typical girls that loathes thunder storms."

Pepper immediately popped her head out from his neck. "I don't." She said calmly. "I just hate it when they're _that_ loud – and I'll have you know, I love the rain."

"Mm." He hummed and watched her intently. "Really?"

"Yes." She nodded with a sniff.

"Well…" He started out. "…If you ever get scared, just remember that your super hero genius, billionaire, and all out wonderful boyfriend, and his little chest light, is here for you."

She narrowed her eyes at him and his ego induced speech. She beamed at him again and sighed. She ran her hand along his stomach. "Tony Stark trying to be the perfect boyfriend."

"Is it working?" He asked her, leaning in. "Do I get naked Pepper fondue now?"

She shook her head at him and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. From tonight, Tony learned Pepper's choice of weapon was a bat, and she was damn well good with it, too. And for the rest of the night, he brought up 'naked fondue' hundreds of times.

When the Avengers asked him what he did after the mission, he was working on his new Mark VIII suit, and mumbled something along the lines of, "naked fondue". Everyone gave him a confused look, while Steve widened his eyes in shock.

"I thought fondue was naked to begin with." He pondered. "So, is it double, or squared, naked fondue – or am I missing something?"

Everyone turned to him. "What?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Herp derp; Well, i thought i was going to get some sleep, but i ended up lying in bed and playing Kingdom Hearts 3D for 6 hours. I just finished the Tron world, and Jeff Bridges' voice drew me to Obadiah Stane. Now my back is sore, but good news, i got this special requested chapter in. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Without further delay - read and enjoy!**

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"Are you sure you don't want me to come over?" Asked Pepper through her BlackBerry. She was in her apartment, leaning against the kitchen counter. In the past few days, she had noticed Tony sniffling. She'd walk into his workshop and find him hovering over a piece of the suit, and sniffling every other second.

Today, on her day off, JARVIS called her and told her about Tony's fever. She made JARVIS patch her through, and immediately heard sneezing and his groggy voice. She offered to come over and make him something to eat, but he sleepily declined her offer.

"Yeah." He drew out. She couldn't see him, but he was swinging his arm every which way as if he were trying to wave her away.

"Tony, you don't sound good – have you even taken some medicine yet?" She asked sternly, worried about his wellbeing.

"I hate needles."

She mentally swatted her forehead with her hand. "I meant Tylenol, or Advil."

"JARVIS, do we have any of that stuff?" He asked with his eyes still closed. He was lying in bed in just his boxers, and the sheets were fully covering him.

"There is a bottle of Tylenol in the kitchen, in the bottom cabinet." His AI informed him.

"Have Dummy get it." Tony waved his arms again. His headache was getting the best of him. When the memories of Dummy effectively wrecking practically every inch of the kitchen last month flooded his mind, he shot up, grasping his head in pain, and waved his arms again. "Scratch that, Dummy is off limits from everything in the house."

"Tony—" Pepper groaned worriedly.

"Have no fear, honey." He got out of bed and cautiously made his way towards the bedroom door. "I've got this." He tried reassuring her, but Pepper was cringing on the other side of the phone.

"Miss Potts." JARVIS spoke up. "I believe Mister Stark would require your immediate care if his health is to be restored to its normal human state."

"How high is his fever?" She asked, searching around the kitchen for medicine, and food.

"My scans have picked up a 101.0 degree body temperature." The AI informed her.

Before she could ask anymore, a loud crash boomed through the phone. Pepper stopped in her tracks and widened her eyes. "What was that?"

"I'm good!" Tony's voice was heard. There was a pause before hearing him again, "Who put this couch here?"

"Might I suggest going through the threshold of the kitchen, Sir?" JARVIS smartly said.

"You sound like you're enjoying this." Tony said sternly while trying to navigate through the living room. "There's a reason why I never play hide-and-seek with you."

"I'm sure Mister Hogan is much suitable partner than I am." The AI turned his attention back at Miss Potts. "Shall I inform Mister Stark of your immediate arrival?"

"Just try to keep him away from the stove. You remember what happened last time." She tried not to smile through the phone. Her hands were full of food and medicine as she tried shrugging on her navy blue cotton jacket. She grabbed the keys, and walked out the door in a pair of black sweatpants, tennis shoes, and a white cotton t-shirt.

"Surely all of the Santa Monica and the fire department will remember that." She could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "I'll try my best, Miss Potts."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

Tony's voice was heard once more before she hung up. "What did I come into the kitchen for again?"

…

Pepper entered through the front door and rounded the corner into the kitchen. What she saw made her stop in her tracks. Tony was sitting on the floor, staring at a can of soup in his hand. She smirked to herself and walked through the threshold. She shrugged her jacket off.

"Like what you see?" She asked him casually. Tony didn't look up at her and kept his gaze on the can.

"I was hoping…" He started. He pressed his lips together. "…If I stared at it long enough, maybe it would make itself."

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "Anything happen, yet?" She dropped the food she brought from her house on the counter. Tony blinked a few times before gazing up at her. Her keys hit the tile top with a clang.

"Nothing yet, but I believe I've made progress." He began to beam.

"Right." She drew out.

Tony swayed from side to side as he pushed himself up from the floor. Pepper hovered around him, worried that he might fall. He tossed the can of soup to the side and pulled her in by her wrists. She wrapped her arms around his waist reflexively, and grinned up at him. He stared down at her with droopy eyes, almost making her melt from the inside out.

"I thought I told you not to come here." He said groggily.

"JARVIS says otherwise." She squeezed him gently.

"JARVIS isn't the boss around here, though." He frowned.

"No, he isn't, but I am." She said as-a-matter-of-factly.

She unraveled her arms from him and shifted over to the food she left on the counter. He furrowed his eyebrows, "Uh, I think you mean _were_, as in you _were_ the boss until we agreed to become co-CEO's."

"Mhm." She said uncertainly. "So, that night when you said I could do anything I wanted with you because, and I quote, 'You're the boss'?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

He stared at her, trying to think of an excuse. He remembered that wonderful night very well. "Uh…"

"I brought you some spaghetti." She informed him, popping the top of the container off.

"Spaghetti?" He gingerly made his way over to her to peer down at the food. His nose caught a good whiff of the delicious meal just as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Mm, smells delicious." He then nuzzled her neck with his nose.

She grinned excitably and slowly pushed him away. "_You_ need to get some rest."

He pulled her against him again and stared down at her dreamily. She could feel his fingers playing with the hem of her t-shirt. "I like this t-shirt on you." His breath caressed her throat.

She beamed at him. "It's yours."

He flashed a wide grin, and began to rest his forehead against hers. "See, this is why I didn't want you to come over."

She stared down at his lips, and then gazed back up at him. "Why?" She asked slowly, almost as if she were trying to seduce him.

"Because I have this intense urge to kiss you…" He told her. "…And we both know _that_ doesn't turn out well, given our past experience."

She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She pulled away and patted his stomach; his hands were still resting on his hips. "Go upstairs and try to get some rest. I'll heat up some spaghetti."

He grinned at her and kissed her neck. His hands slid against her hip as he slipped away from her. "Could you also stare down that can of soup for me? I'm pretty sure it was close to caving."

As he slowly made his way upstairs, she looked over at the can of soup on the counter and shook her head. _That insane and adorable man,_ she thought to herself.

Pepper took the next ten minutes preparing the can of soup, and heating up a plate of spaghetti. She took out the bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water, and placed it on a tray. Once the soup was done, as well as the plate of spaghetti, she brought the tray up to his bedroom.

She found Tony sitting on his bed, staring at the projected TV screen on the opposite wall. He took a big whiff and extended his arms out to her. Pepper placed the tray on the nightstand next to his bed and he practically jumped at it.

Pepper swatted his hands away with a smack, and he retracted his movements like a hurt puppy. "Ow, what was that for?" He sniffed and pouted. She held out two capsules of Tylenol and a glass of water.

"Medicine first." She urged him.

He mumbled a few incoherent words before following her orders. When he handed her the glass of water back, she handed him the plate of spaghetti. He then scooted over a bit to let her join him on his bed. She grabbed her own bowl of soup and settled down next to him, digging her legs underneath the sheets.

"What are we watching?" She asked, spooning herself some soup.

He loudly slurped a fork full of spaghetti, and took his time chewing it. "I have no idea." He responded.

Pepper felt a smile tug at her lips. She took the thin window-like panel from the nightstand and changed the channel to something more suitable. The first thing that caught her eye was a chick flick featuring two lost lovers trying to find their way to each other through a crowded room.

"No-no-no-no-no." Tony spat quickly through a mouth full of food. "No chick flicks."

She rolled her eyes and him and changed the channel. They, meaning Pepper, settled on the news channel, which made Tony very irritated.

"What is it with you and the news channel?" He asked, eating the last of his food.

"What's with you and your workshop?"

He glared at her. "It's where I work on the suit."

"And when I watch the news channel, I'm working on keeping your company alive – the press, withholding any outlandish statements made—" He interjected her.

"Okay, okay." He gave up. "I get it." He placed his finished plate on top of the other nightstand and dug himself further beneath the sheets. Pepper could feel his fingers playing with her leg.

"Tony." She sternly said, trying to make him stop.

"Honey." He responded with a wide grin, one that could melt a stadium full of men and women.

"You're sick. You should really get some sleep." She told him once more before finishing off her bowl of soup.

"But _you're_ here... in my bed..." He pouted, and glanced down at the hump her legs made through the bedding.

"I'm not having sex with you when you're sick." She instantly told him. Her gaze shifted to the news.

He inched closer to her body and kissed her waist lovingly. He groaned something incoherently and laid his head on the bed of pillows. He had one arm draped across her lap, and the other around her back. His touch nearly sent her nerves flip into overdrive. She tried her best to ignore his advances and kept her eyes glued on the television.

"Pepper." He mumbled sleepily; his eyes were starting to close.

"Hm?" She hummed questionably, glancing down at him.

"Thanks." He nudged her side with his nose and smiled to himself. "You take such good care of me."

She let out a small laugh through her nose and reached around him with her hand to massage his scalp. He sighed in content when he felt her fingers work its magic. "That's what girlfriends are for."

"Mm." He sighed in comfort. His toothy grin was still plastered on his face. "Girlfriend."

She placed the empty bowl back onto the tray and continued to play with his hair. Halfway through the news, she heard his soft snoring, and felt his forehead nudge her side. She smiled to herself and took a few minutes to survey the moment.

Nearly a year and a half ago, he and she were at each other's throats. She _tried_ to get him to go to one meeting, and he tried to get women into his bed. And now here they were; she was in his bed, getting him through a cold, and playing with his hair. The terms 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' bounced between them as if they had been together for years. It was daunting to imagine that not long ago their feelings for each other were buried deeper than the Titanic, unwilling to let itself go any higher.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the news cut to schedule paid programming. She turned off the projection once she heard a woman talk about losing weight through the 'Professional Step Master'. The lit up room darkened to something she grew to love; Tony's Arc Reactor gave off a light and comforting blue glow. She dove deeper into the sheets and snuggled into his hold. She pressed a light kiss to his lips and huddled back into his warmth.

Pepper had to call in sick two days later and Tony teased her by saying she took advantage of him while he slept.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Not sure if you're going to like this one- it depends on your preference of hurt/comfort.**

**Information about this chapter: The Council has been informed that a third party has been dealing under the table, and is now selling stolen plans of advanced nuclear weaponry that were locked away deep within the government. John Ukofsky was pinned as the leader of the cartel that's been selling said plans. Unfortunately, SHIELD has had difficulty pin pointing the exact location of the cartel's main base since there are three minor joint dealers.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Read and enjoy!**

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Dirt was splotched all over his skin. His brown hair was strewn out in different places. The black spotted and grey scarf, used to be white, was wrapped loosely around his neck. His dirty jeans covered his black combat boots. His dirty grey shirt was all that Tony could stare at.

Two henchmen were holding Tony's arms apart to keep him from escaping. The man in front of him was a Black Market dealer, and went by the name of John Ukofsky. The Avengers were on to his trail for the past month, and they couldn't get through to his central dealing quarry without alerting the three other joint dealers.

"_There's no other way to get to him." Tony said sternly. His arms were crossed against his chest to mentally back up his suggestion._

"_There's always another way, Stark." Clint argued._

_The Avengers were gathered around the table on the commanding platform. Director Fury was standing on the side, listening intently to their conversation._

"_Ukofsky is a Black Market dealer. What better way to lure the prairie dog out from his hole than use bait?" Tony gestured towards himself._

"_And," Steve furrowed his eyebrows, trying to understand his reasoning. "You want to be the bait?"_

_Tony nodded. "Duh. Everyone wants a piece of Tony Stark."_

_Natasha rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Watch it Stark, your ego is showing."_

"_Does it make me look fat?" Tony asked without a beat and a slight smirk._

"_Incredibly." She bit back._

"_You can't approve this, can you?" Steve's gaze was directed at Director Fury. Fury stood there with a stern look, trying to go through the plan in his head._

"_Stark's idea is a dangerous one, but given our lack of intel on this man and his trading post, we might have to." Fury grazed his chin with his index finger in ponder._

"_Don't worry, I have everything planned out." Tony tried to reassure the crowd, but they weren't buying it._

"_This is going to be a long week." Steve heavily sighed before massaging his forehead. _

"_Is this Oof-man even dangerous?" Thor asked with a deep tone._

"_Ukofsky." Tony corrected._

"_That is what I said." Thor glared at Tony._

"_Uh—" Tony hummed._

"_Stark, just tell us the plan." Clint said curtly before rolling his eyes._

_Tony flashed Clint a fake smile and activated the holographic panel which sprouted a blue skeleton layout of his master plan. The Avengers were huddled around the conference table, along with Director Fury, listening intently to him. The plan consisted of some full body placing, a fighter jet helicopter, a large transportation truck, and Pepper._

"_Why Pepper?" Bruce asked curiously. His eyes narrowed at him._

"_Moral support." Tony deadpanned. "Pepper knows Stark Tech better than anybody else, only because she's been the test dummy for them for months, but I digress. The plan is simple, and the only thing you'll have to worry about is the rescue bit."_

_Steve gave him a confused look. "Rescue?"_

"_By the time I get myself inside the center of the cartel, they're going to demand every single bit of information on schematics and resources they can get." Tony informed his teammates._

_Bruce nodded and, almost immediately, shook his head. "That's too dangerous."_

"_They're harboring stolen plans for nuclear weaponry." Clint spoke up, gazing at the rest of the team. "That's priority."_

"_But, you realize what Tony is trying to do here, right?" Bruce argued sternly._

"_Yes." Natasha nodded before shifting her gaze at Clint. Clint looked back at her knowingly. "We both do."_

"_Is there something I'm not getting?" Steve spoke up with a confused tone._

_Clint, Bruce, and Natasha all stared at Tony worriedly. Thor and Steve were stuck at the bud of the conversation. Clint shook his head silently. Bruce heavily sighed and took a moment to walk around the room in thought._

Ukofsky sternly looked down at Tony Stark, the man that could change his entire market if he had just waved his hand in the air, and one of the men holding Tony down kicked him in the stomach.

Tony groaned in pain and began to double over, but the men yanked him back up.

"I'm going to ask you again, Mr. Stark." Ukofsky said sternly. His dark and hoarse voice brought shivers down Tony's spine. "How does the suit of iron work?"

"It flies." Tony said smartly, quipped with a smirk.

Ukofsky clenched his jaw and angrily pointed at one of the men. The man to Tony's right kneed Tony in the ribs, and then kicked him in the same spot. Tony fell over with a heavy and painful groan. The men watched him roll on the floor in pain.

Tony caressed his side, urging himself to get up. The man on his left kicked him back down in the chest. The dirt covered ground spotted Tony's grey cotton t-shirt. The hard ground beneath it clashed with Tony's elbow, scrapping it slightly.

Urkofsky walked forwards and kneeled in front of him. He grabbed Tony by the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward. The blood that dripped from Tony's mouth began ran down his chin, and dripped onto Urkofsky's wrist.

He ignored it. "Stark." His voice darkened. "Not telling us the information we want will only bring you more pain."

Tony opened one eye and stared at the man. "You don't say?"

Urkofsky sighed and shook his head. In a bout of anger, he grabbed Tony by the throat and threw him across the area. Tony's back slammed against the hard concrete wall with a loud thud. Tony let out a painful gasp.

"Take him back to his cell." Urkofsky sternly told the two men. The men rushed towards the fallen Avenger and yanked him up. His broken ribs weren't keen on the sudden movement.

…

Pepper focused on the panel in front of her that radiated a bright sky blue color. The device in front of her connected with its counter part that relayed invisible signals. The signals bounced back information containing various variables, including how many life forms were detected.

"There's at least seventy." Pepper informed the rest of the Avengers. They were all in a convoy truck, heading for a gate in the middle of the woods. The night time gave them the perfect camouflage.

Steve, Bruce, Thor, and Clint sat in the back with Pepper, while Natasha drove the truck towards their destination.

"And this is a five mile radius around him?" Steve asked curiously.

"Yes." She nodded.

"How much fire power do they have?" Bruce asked, looking through a slit to gaze at the dark scenery around them. He observed the trees, and the towering rock formations. It was the perfect terrain for cover.

"That's going to take some time." Her hands slid along the panel with ease.

Thor stared down at the device in curiosity. It was astonishing to see a human so well connected with a piece of equipment that has yet to exist in his realm. From his point of view, it looked very complicated. Symbols he's never seen before were whizzing back and forth, and her delicate tiny fingers would catch them at the right moment, opening something even more complex.

"It's picking up assault rifles, and rocket launchers." She informed them.

"Rocket launchers?" Steve repeated worriedly. "That's going to be trouble."

"The other guy is going to have to disagree." Bruce smirked from his corner.

Clint was sitting down, pressing steel tips into his bare arrows, preparing for the impending battle. "I can divert their attention away from their compound."

"Lightning won't be friendly in this neck of the woods." Steve turned to Thor warningly.

"Have no fear my comrade." Thor reassured him with a small smile. "Odin's hammer is all I need to fight these puny mortals."

"I'm worried about Tony." Pepper spoke up shakily as she bit her bottom lip.

"Why, what's happened?" Steve asked worriedly and scooted near her. When he looked down at the panel, all he could see were mixed symbols and letters.

"He's not moving." Everyone could hear her voice fill with worry.

"I see the gate." Natasha informed them.

Steve looked up and gazed at the front of the convoy. He saw lights flashing, along with a pair of guards holding assault rifles. He gazed back down at Pepper and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him. He's tough. We'll get him out of here, and he'll probably ask for Shawarma on the way back."

Pepper laughed at his words and nodded as her nerves were already calming down. Everyone stayed quiet as their convoy approached the gate. The metal gate blocked off an entire compound, but from the looks of it, it seemed like there was a distance of a half a mile from the gate to the base.

Natasha rolled down at the windows at the two guards approached her. She observed their stance and noticed their fingers were resting against the spot above the trigger.

"What is it you want?"

"Ukofsky sent me." Natasha responded.

"Badge?" The man asked, while the other man walked to the back of the convoy.

Natasha pulled out a badge and handed it to him.

"Josh, check the contents." The man yelled before checking the badge.

The man brushed back the heavy fabric to survey the contents, but before he could register anything he was seeing, Steve whacked him in the head with his shield. At the same time, Natasha opened her door and sent the man flying back. She knocked him unconscious with her fist and took his gun.

"That was easy." Steve said from the back of the truck, glancing at Natasha.

"You'd think they'd have more back up for the entrance of a cartel." She responded mockingly.

"It's only a half a mile to the center of the base." Steve surveyed the distance. "Hawkeye." He called out. Barton jumped out of the convoy with his bow ready.

"Already on it." He said as he started climbing up one of the taller trees off to the side of the gate. Natasha snagged a badge off one of the men's unconscious body and swiped it in front of a sensor to open the gate. Bruce tried his best to drag the other body away from the road. He pulled the body by the arm and lazily tossed him in the bush.

"Those guards need to lay off the donuts." Bruce huffed dryly.

Steve joined Natasha at the gate. "We're going to have to make this quick."

"I'm going to swing the truck around in between the trees to avoid detection." Natasha informed him. "Thor, stay back with us to secure the area." Thor nodded back.

"So, it's going to be a quick rescue and escape?" He raised his eyebrow. The hopeful tone in his voice made Natasha smirk.

"Easier said than done." She said smartly. She started to strut back to the truck.

"Right." Steve drew out. He gazed up at the dark purple star lit sky. The peaceful night and the calm sky would soon be lit up with fire, and destruction. He kept his gaze on the sky, wondering how many people were enjoying the moment of peace alongside him. He reached behind him and pulled his Captain America cover over his head.

"Just say the word." Bruce followed Steve.

Steve looked up at the tree and spoke into their team intercom, "Hawkeye?"

"I'm in position – awaiting the signal." He informed him front of the top of the tree as he drew his bow back, aiming for the other side of the compound.

Steve turned to Bruce and nodded at him. Bruce took a few steps forward and took a moment to draw out his anger. As his body transformed into the terrifying green rage monster, Steve signaled Clint to fire the arrow.

He shot it into the air, and in a matter of seconds, the other side of the compound exploded. Steve could hear shouts coming from the center of the base.

"Hulk." Steve spoke. The monster turned to him, awaiting instructions. His eyes were a soft shade of brown. "Go find Tony, and smash everything in your way."

The monster roared angrily before sprinting ahead. Hawkeye slid down the tree with ease. Both he and Steve raced after the Hulk, leaving Pepper, Thor, and Natasha behind. Natasha took a minute to back the truck up and into a gap surrounded by trees. Thor stood behind a crowd of trees as Natasha jumped in the back to join Pepper.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"Steve's plan is working. The panel is picking up thermal readings. Less than half are moving towards the diversion." Pepper informed the SHIELD agent.

"How's Tony doing?"

"Bad." Pepper bit her bottom lip. She didn't show it, but she was increasingly worried about his wellbeing. "The panel can pick up medical scans."

"How is he?" Natasha asked, almost worriedly.

Pepper stopped her ministrations and stared at the panel. Without looking back at her, she responded shakily, "I'm too afraid to look."

…

"What was that?" Ukofsky yelled through one of the talkies.

"There was an explosion—" The man on the other side of the talkie tried to explain.

"I want it checked out." Ukofsky sternly said. "Immediately!"

"Already on it, sir."

Ukofsky angrily slammed the talkie on the table in front of him. He was inside the room that contained two gated cells. Tony was the only one there. His body was slump against the concrete, and his eyes were drooping. His arm was resting against his middle as his hand was caressing his side. He smirked slightly; he knew exactly what caused the explosion.

Urkofsky opened up his cell. "Why the hell are you smiling?" He grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Pain shot through his spine. Tony grabbed his wrist with his hands to keep himself from choking. "You're making it painfully hard for me to avoid killing you."

"Can't a guy be happy when he's being lousily tortured?" Tony choked out with a slight smile.

Urkofsky took a moment to stare back at him. He gave him a fake smile and immediately threw him out of the cell. Tony landed on his side with a loud thud. The concrete below him hit his ribs hard. He grunted in pain and tried his best to get back up.

Urkofsky pulled a knife from the table and hovered over Tony, grabbing his collar with his hand. Tony stared up at him as blood ran down his forehead and nose. The blood spilling from his mouth had already dried up.

"Mr. Stark," Urkofsky said threateningly. He ran the knife against his cheek. "You have five seconds to tell me the plans to your suit of armor."

"You know," Tony bit back. "For a guy pitted in a massive Black Market cartel, you're pretty stupid."

Urkofsky sliced his cheek with his knife. Tony gasped in pain before feeling the knife against his throat. "Wrong answer."

"You think torturing me will do you any good?" Tony managed to ground out.

Urkofsky smiled. "You haven't even begun to imagine the possibilities of torture." He sliced through Tony's cotton t-shirt, and sliced his chest. Tony bit back a scream of pain and closed his eyes shut. "It won't even matter if you tell me your schematics or not. The nuclear plans we have will throw the U.S Government in a state of panic. We've already struck a deal with North Korea and Iran."

"You're trying to confuse both sides…" Tony paused as all the information clicked in his head. "…a nuclear arms race."

"Your suits of armor will only add fuel to the fire, and you're already trapped in the middle." Urkofsky smiled devilishly.

"You talk a lot for a cartel leader." Tony spat back him.

"And soon you'll talk just as much." Urkofsky rested the point of the knife on Tony's throat, but before he could cut him again, a green rush of air knocked him off to the side.

Tony gasped in shock. He breathed heavily as he looked to the side to see Urkofsky knocked out. He grabbed his side and tried to get up. During his struggle, his eyes noticed a blue figure. When he turned to investigate, his lips formed a smile almost instantly. His body could feel a huge monstrous figure approach him from behind. When he turned around, he saw the Hulk standing there, catching its breath.

"What took you guys so long?" Tony complained. "Did you guys stop by Burger King or something?"

Steve shook his head at him and offered him a hand. He took it gingerly, still holding his side. "How you holding up?"

"The guy had an unhealthy fetish for torture." Tony joked. "I swear, he needs therapy."

"Where are the nuclear plans?" Clint asked; his bow was drawn back to cover their position.

"They're in his office." Tony informed them. "I remember passing by it when they dragged me to an interrogation room."

"Can you walk?" Steve asked, hovering around him.

"Want to give me a piggy back ride?" Tony deadpanned.

Steve rolled his eyes and gestured towards the Hulk. The Hulk offered his giant green hand to Tony. Tony almost immediately leaped backwards.

"Whoa, I don't want the big guy to accidentally squish me from excitement." Tony bit back, staring down the Hulk, who huffed back in response.

"It's either that or we drag you by the arms." Steve suggested.

"Speed up the tea party, ladies." Clint said dryly. "They're bound to notice the big gaping hole in the middle of the facility sooner or later."

"Fine…" Tony grumbled and rested in the Hulk's arms. "Handle me with care. I'm like a fragile peach." He stared at the Hulk, and the Hulk stared back angrily. "It's down there." Tony pointed towards one of the wide corridors.

They scooped the information from the computer inside the office with a Stark Tech enhanced flash drive and burned the room down to erase any written evidence. They rushed out of the back of the facility opposite from the big gapping hole they came through. As they exited the grounds, they heard shouting coming from the compound. More explosions lit up the sky, most likely the aftermath from the spread of the fire.

"Looks like they've finally figured it out." Steve noticed as he ran through the woods.

"Mm." Tony hummed in pain. "Could you run without moving so much?" The Hulk huffed against his words and kept his pace. "There better be a spa treatment waiting for me in the convoy."

"This was your idea, Stark." Steve rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Yeah, and it worked." Tony argued.

"Guys, you need to hurry." Pepper spoke through their intercom. "There are about a dozen armed men hot on your trail."

"Swing the truck around and prepare for immediate extraction." Steve responded.

"Was that Pepper?" Tony asked. "Tell her I've missed her."

They got to the truck in a few minutes. Thor quickly opened up the back of the convoy, and tried his best to help Tony inside. Before Tony could even settle down, he felt a pair of arms warmly envelop him. He could smell her vanilla scent from a mile away.

"Hi." He responded painfully as his gazed fixed on his girlfriend.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Pepper beamed at him.

"Um…" Steve spoke, trying to catch his breath. Clint had already climbed into the convoy. "How are we going to get Bruce in here?" Everyone stared at the enormous green bulk standing in front of them. Before their very eyes, the monster turned back into its human form.

Bruce stood there, trying to keep his stretched out pants from falling, "How'd it go?"

"Wow, that's convenient." Steve noted with a shocked expression.

"Ladies, lets go. We don't have much time before they catch up to us." Natasha yelled from the front of the truck. Steve and Thor hurried Bruce into the convoy and ordered Natasha to step on it.

Tony groaned in pain as the rocking convoy swayed him back and forth, sending his ribs mixed signals. He leaned his head against Pepper's shoulder in search for comfort. She felt him up and detached the tech patch from the inside of his waistband. She attached it back into the panel and quickly slid things around. He glanced down at her hands and smiled to himself.

"You realize how turned on I am from just watching you do that?" He grumbled huskily. "It's like tech porn for me."

Pepper grinned to herself and continued to work on the panel. "Heads up. It's picking up five moving trucks less than a quarter of a mile away from our position."

"I've got this." Clint spoke up. He moved to the back of the convoy and drew his bow back. He aimed for one of the big trees off to the side and punctured the base of the trunk with an arrow. In just a few short seconds, a blast went off, collapsing the tree onto the road behind them. The headlights of the moving vehicles stopped behind them as the screeching halt of tires rang out.

"I can't wait to sleep in my own bed." Tony grumbled as he laid his head on Pepper's lap.

"Dare I ask to get a medical scan?" She challenged him, her hand running along his ribs.

"Ow-ow-ow." He groaned from her rough touch. His hand immediately grabbed hers to stop it from moving. She could feel the burning sensation surge through her arm as he held her hand in place. His fingers slowly tangled with hers, making her lips form a huge smile, and her cheeks followed with a pinkish hue.

"Sorry." She whispered warmly. She brought her other hand up to his head and played with his hair, calming him down indefinitely.

"Oh, right there." He moaned, relaxing against her hold.

The rest of the team tried not to stare as the two were having one of their heartfelt moments. Steve twiddled his thumbs and turned to Bruce. "How do you feel?"

"Naked." Bruce held up his pants as he cautiously and embarrassingly gazed at Steve. Thor peered out of the slit to keep watch on the path behind them. Clint joined Natasha up front to see if she needed help navigating through the woods.

It took them about half an hour to get back to the jet. When they got back to SHIELD headquarters, they rushed the flash drive to get checked out by SHIELD tech agents, and they sent a medical team to fetch Tony.

It was two hours later after the medics checked him out. They told Pepper the list of injuries he was sporting, and handed her a bottle of pain medication. She entered Tony's room and found him lying on his bed with his legs propped up on a pillow, his arm in a sling and resting against his chest, and his back against the headboard.

He smiled up at her. "Hey."

"Hey." She greeted back and joined him on the bed. His head immediately fell on her shoulder in exhaustion. "How are you feeling?" She felt his good arm tangle around hers, intertwining their fingers together.

"Like I'm on pain medication." He said bluntly.

"Well, you sacrificed yourself for the good of the nation, considering you just took down a nuclear weapons dealer, and even managed to burn their Intel to the ground." She noted, and he nodded. "So, I have to ask." He looked up at her in curiosity. "Was it worth the pain?"

He grumbled something incoherently and rubbed his cheek into her shoulder. Her fingers gently rubbed against his to reassure him with her presence. "Yeah." He whispered before kissing her shoulder. "It was worth it."

She giggled under his flurry of light kisses, and tried her best to inch away.

"And this way," He started out with a sly grin. "You get the chance of wearing that sexy nurse outfit that's been sitting in the back of your closet."

Pepper shook her head and snuggled gently into his hold. He untangled their hands and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her flush against him. The settled down under the sheets, wrapped in each other's arms. Tony snore softly against her neck, while Pepper continued to play with his hair.

When she woke up, she swung her arms to the side next to her, but felt nothing. She opened her eyes and looked around the room in search for him. She changed into a pair of jeans, a white blouse, and a pair of black high heels. She combed her hair and wrapped it into a ponytail. Her curiosity and search for Tony led her to the laboratory.

Tony was standing in the middle of the room, looking at the files that they got from the flash drive. He slid them around every which way, observing their contents.

"Hey." She whispered.

He turned around to glance at her. "Hi." He responded, quipped with a grin.

She leaned against the threshold. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." He mumbled as he focused intently on the files in front of him. His voice was a little dark, and low. He sounded like he was struggling to keep the pain at bay.

He wasn't that good at lying, especially to her. "You don't sound like yourself." She noted before walking towards him. The laboratory door slid shut behind her, giving them their much needed privacy. He stopped sliding things across the panel and hummed to himself in thought.

She noticed her closeness made him flinch slightly. She looked up at him worriedly. "Tony, if something is bothering you, you know you can tell me."

"I know." He glanced at her and flashed a weak smile.

She began to sigh. "I don't expect anyone to be the same after being tortured for eight hours." Her hand slid along the metal table in front of her. She leaned against the edge of the table and watched him carefully.

His good arm retracted from the panel as he let out a lengthy sigh. He turned to look at her with those gorgeous soft brown eyes. "I'm trying to cope with it."

"You don't have to deal with it by yourself." Her soft words brought him warmth.

"You've told me that dozens of times before." He huffed. He found it hard not to look at her, especially in the rarity of her casual attire.

"And I'll keep telling you that until you listen to me, which will _never_ happen." She beamed at him knowingly.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey." He huffed. "I listen to you… sometimes." Her smile grew wider in response. He heavily sighed again, feeling the toll everything did to his mentality. "It was painful." He spoke; Pepper listened to him intently. "It was nothing like Afghanistan. They didn't dunk my head in water. A few paragraphs of explanation and I could've made the pain stop." He paused to shake his head.

She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. She could feel him tense up under her hold as she squeezed his hand in reassurance. "You did the right thing, Tony."

"For the sake of my own life…" He sighed. "Of course I did the right thing."

"Were you scared?"

He didn't answer; he didn't really want to answer her at all. He stood there, waiting for her to change the subject. He rarely talked about his feelings to anyone, but Pepper made it hard to resist. Her ocean blue eyes stared at him in curiosity; there was some kind of warm and loving tone to her presence.

"I'm always scared." He muttered under his breath. He untangled their hands and proceeded to check the contents of the flash drive.

Pepper frowned as he retreated to the tech in front of him. She moved behind him and gingerly wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her head against the back of his shoulder with a blissful hum. He couldn't help but grin to himself when he felt her lips press against his shoulder.

Pepper was busy for the next couple weeks. Her schedule consisted of tending to a very whiny and injured Tony Stark, and attending long meetings. Somehow, they'd find peace in his bedroom every night. He would end up falling asleep with her hand in his hair and his arm pressed against her side in search for her warmth.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed. It means a lot to me. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Read and enjoy!**

* * *

Tony sat on the couch with Pepper leaning against his chest. He had his arm lying lazily around her waist. He felt bad for what happened, and it all happened so fast, he didn't have time to properly react. He reached around her and grazed her bandage wrapped forearm. She flinched at his touch and looked behind her, ignoring the television in front of them, wondering what he wanted.

He closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"For what?" She asked, rubbing the bandages under her blue cotton t-shirt. His hand reached out to grab her wrist, effectively stopping her from scratching.

"You're going to open your stitches if you keep doing that." He whispered worriedly.

"Says the guy who has done it more than ten times." She quipped before she stared up at him.

He smiled at her words, but it quickly turned into a frown. "I really am sorry, though."

"There's nothing to be sorry about." She sighed.

The frustration in his system quickly rose. "Pepper." He spoke through his teeth. "It's my fault you're in this situation."

"I only had to get five stitches." She breathed out. "A couple cuts and bruises—"

He tightened his jaw, trying to fight back the recent horrors he had to live through. "I had to lift slabs of concrete to pull you out of that building."

She let out a sigh, but before she could respond to him, she gasped in pain. He looked down at her curiously.

"You okay?" Tony asked worriedly. He shifted them around so she sat on his lap. Her bandaged arm rested against his stomach. He carefully lifted up her shirt and lifted her bandages. Red crimson liquid started to smear her skin.

"Your stitches." He hissed through his teeth. Her bandaged arm wrapped around his neck to get a better look at her stomach. She saw the small spot of blood and gently laid her forehead against his neck. He reached behind her to grab the damp towel on the table.

"Tony…" She continued their conversation. "…It's not your fault." She kissed his jaw and sighed against his neck.

He sat there, pressing the towel against the side of her stomach. "He went after _you_ to get to _me_. He collapsed that building because he knew I'd go after you, leaving the both of us vulnerable."

She grabbed his hand that was on her stomach. "Stop." She sternly told him.

"I don't want to see you get hurt again." He choked out.

She shook her head at him and leaned forward, her nose pressed against his. "It was one time, Tony. It's not like we're not going to learn from it."

"Pepper," He breathed. "I can't keep you bottled up in a bomb shelter until I stop being Iron Man."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Good." She tried to smile. "Because I'm not going to let you stop being Iron Man."

He turned to face her. "As long as I'm Iron Man, you'll be in danger." His voice shook with fear.

"I don't care about that." Her hand pressed harder onto his with the damp towel stopping the bleeding. "I knew what I was getting into when I stuck around, and nothing will happen to change my mind." He sighed against her words. "I love you, Tony."

His head slowly rose to gaze at her. His eyes grew into wide chocolate saucers.

"I love you as much as you love being Iron Man… and yourself." She quipped. Her lips formed a small smile. "And that's a lot."

He breathed a laugh. "So…" He drew out. "I'm stuck with you?"

"Looks like it."

He didn't like her reasoning. He wanted her to understand where he was coming from, and she took on his words like a tank. Deep down, he wants to protect her no matter what, even if it means severing all ties with her, but what would that do? He'd go crazy – he'd ask himself every second if she was okay. He would probably go as far as to ask Fury to keep an eye on her. But, the best thing to do is to keep her close and keep her safe. He lifted the towel to find the bleeding had stopped. "You need to try to keep your stress levels down, and you need to stop irritating your stitches."

"Mm." She hummed. "How does it feel to play the nurse for once?"

"I mean it, Pepper." He forced himself to bite back a smile. "The board of directors can keep everything at bay until you're healed. No phone, no e-mails, and no watching the news."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't even watch the news?"

"Nope." He said, recovering her stitches with the bandages, and rolling down her t-shirt.

"That's the closest I'm going to get to that bomb shelter." She deadpanned.

"In the mean time," He ignored her. "I'll be here at your every beck and call."

"Personal slave?" She asked in curiosity.

"More like an iPhone." He replied with a grin. "I can entertain you – sing for you. Um… I can try and cook for you, and even call the fire department in case I burn the house down."

She grinned at him. There was nothing more entertaining than watching Tony Stark cook. The last time she asked for him to cook for her was when it was that time of the month. She demanded an omelet from him, and he tried to tell her that the house didn't deserve another notch from the fire fighters. In the end, she had to baby him through each step of the process. They ended up using all dozen eggs, and only eating two of them.

"I'll pass on the cooking."

"Sir." JARVIS spoke up. "Agent Romanoff is on line one. She wishes to speak to you."

"Put her through." He said, smiling down at Pepper, and kissing her cheek gently.

"Stark." Romanoff's voice boomed throughout the living room.

"Agent Romanoff, what's up?" He asked the ceiling.

"How's Miss Potts?" She asked. They could almost hear a hint of worry in her tone.

"I'm recovering." Pepper responded, trying to keep Tony from tickling her neck with his goatee. She tried to suppress a giggle, but that eventually failed.

There was a pause in Romanoff's voice. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No." Tony spoke, staring at Pepper with a wide grin.

"That usually means yes." Romanoff bit back. "I just wanted to make sure Pepper was okay, and I can most definitely hear that she's making a fast recovery."

Pepper felt Tony's hand run along her upper thigh. She playfully smacked his hand away. "Tony, stop." She reprimanded him in a low hush.

"I'll just leave you two alone." The Agent shook her head, trying to hang up as fast as possible before she heard something she didn't want to hear. "I'll call back later."

"Agent Romanoff has ended the call, Sir." JARVIS announced.

Pepper smacked Tony on the arm this time. "See, now you've scared her off." She grumbled.

"Me?" He asked, pointing to himself. "You're the one giggling."

"That's because your goatee was tickling my neck." She argued. He stared at her intently and saw her beautiful blue eyes twinkle. His lips formed a genuine smile, one that could melt the sun. She stared down at him lovingly and leaned forward to press a light kiss against his lips.

He didn't want a single kiss though. He pressed his hand against her back to deepen the kiss. Her bandaged hand played with the hairs on the back of his neck out of habit, and her other hand was pressed against the side of his jaw, trying to deepen the kiss as well.

The heartfelt moment took a wrong turn when she had to pull away, feeling a sharp pain near her stitches. He stared at her, wondering why she broke away. Her gaze was to her stomach, and his soon followed. He cursed under his breath as the bleeding seeped through her t-shirt.

"Shit, Pepper." He cursed again and carefully lifted her up. "Can you walk to the bedroom?"

"Yeah." She nodded, keeping her bandaged arm around his neck for support. He helped her through the hallway and towards his bed. She sat on top of the bed and allowed him to roll her blood stained t-shirt up.

He hissed through his teeth when he saw the small spot of blood. He unraveled her bandages and ran to the bathroom. He discarded them in the trashcan and reached under the sink to grab the first aid kit. After months of Pepper's nursing, he learned that every single nook and cranny ought to have a first aid kit.

He cursed again when he figured out he forgot to get a damp cloth. He rushed back to the bathroom to get it, and carefully padded it. When the bleeding barely stopped, he reapplied the bandages around her stomach and gently laid her on the bed.

"You okay?" He asked worriedly. He sat on the edge of the bed and hovered over her, cautiously examining the rest of her injuries.

"Yeah." She breathed out.

"Want me to get you some hot water?" He asked. "I know how to boil some water. I doubt it would start a fire." He tried to reassure her and even added a charming smile.

"I wouldn't have faith in that, Miss Potts." JARVIS quipped.

Tony looked up. "I didn't program you to retort."

"My apologies, Sir." The AI Responded. Pepper tried not to laugh at their little spat. "I do believe I was acting on Miss Potts' best interests. Reassuring her of your lack of safety may save her life."

He shook his head in response and turned his attention back on his girlfriend. He gave her a solemn look and brushed a strand of orange hair away from her eyes. When his hand passed her face and rested on her cheek, her lips formed a loving smile.

He smiled back, almost immediately.

"Thanks, Tony." She whispered. He was a little stunned. Half an hour ago, he was apologizing to her, and now she was thanking him.

"For what?" He asked curiously.

"For being there for me." Her words fluttered around his heart, spreading warmth through his body.

His grin grew wider. "I'll always be there for you."

"Mm." She hummed. "Even when some villain collapses a building on me to get to you?"

He knew any arguments he had against that phrase would land him back in the same spot. So, he nodded and smiled. "Yeah." Her bandaged hand began to play with the hem of his black t-shirt. "Did you want anything to drink?" He asked, trying to stray from the topic.

"I just want you." She said simply. Her hand patted the spot beside her.

He rounded the bed and lay down next to her. He wrapped his arm around her middle, mindful of her stitches, and allowed her to collapse against his chest. Her cheek rested near the rim of his Arc Reactor, giving her that blissful feeling every time she got close to the device. Her bandaged hand continued to play with the hem of his shirt as he continued to press his lips against the top of her head in comfort.

They continued to lay there until they both fell asleep in a blissful slumber. The next couple weeks were filled with the joys of entertaining Pepper (or at least trying to), and cooking for her.

Luck struck them both when Tony found out Happy could cook, and not just microwave.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Two for One special!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own it  
**

**Read and enjoy!  
**

* * *

Tony entered the kitchen with delicious assortments of food on his mind. He wasn't sure what he was hungry for. All he wanted to do was to raid the fridge, sit on the couch, and fall asleep. It was one of those regular lazy feelings he's been experiencing.

Upon approaching the fridge, he noticed his girlfriend standing near it. He furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity and hummed. He silently and steadily snuck up behind her and took a glance at what she was up to. In front of her was one of the cutting boards and various salad fixings. She was in the middle of dicing a red juicy tomato. Next to the cutting board was a bowl full of chopped lettuce.

She felt his breath on the back of her neck and smiled abruptly. "How's the view?"

He smirked at her words and kissed her bare neck. "Absolutely gorgeous."

"Hungry for some salad?" She asked curiously. Her head turned a bit to glance at him.

He rested his hands on her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "I was hungry for something _else_, or should I say someone else, but salad will have to suffice." He breathed a laugh before pressing his lips to her neck once more.

Her smile grew wider. "Funny." She was in the middle of slicing some of the tomato when she turned her head to steal a kiss. He followed her lead and kissed her softly. He hadn't seen her for a few hours thanks to JARVIS' sass in the workshop, and prolonged the kiss to what others might call a make-out session.

Her squeak is what stopped them abruptly. He released her lips and worriedly asked her what was wrong.

"You okay?" He asked.

She hissed in pain and held up her finger. There was a long cut across the top of her index finger. It wasn't deep enough to get stitches, but it was for it to bleed all over the cutting board, and the tomato.

"Oh god." He gasped.

"It's fine." She tried to tell him, walking towards the sink to run it under water.

"Yeah, tell me that when you bleed to death." He huffed, and ran around the kitchen. "Where—Where, where, where—"

"What?" She asked, unsure what to make of his skittish actions.

"Where's the first aid kit?" He opened every cabinet he could find.

Pepper released her finger from the running water and hissed again. Tony glanced over and saw the blood gushing out from inside the crevices of the cut. He immediately tore off some paper towel, dampened it, and handed it to her.

"Here, wrap it up while I get the first aid kit." His worried tone increased.

"Tony, it's just a cut." She tried to calm him down. "It's not like I got shot."

He ignored her and went into the nearest bathroom to grab a first aid kit. "Don't jinx it, Pepper."

"Says the guy that comes home with cuts on his face and tries to reassure me by saying 'At least I didn't get hit with a bomb'." She muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes.

"I heard that." He retorted.

"Want me to say it louder?" She challenged him with a wide grin.

He opened the kit and took out some bandages. He cradled her finger in his hand as if it were a small kitten. She hadn't seen him like this in a while. His eyes were so focused, and filled with worry.

"Tony, I'm not dying." She joked.

"Huh?" He asked, carefully pulling the paper towel from her finger. Blood slowly oozed out. He applied some anti-bacterial liquid and wrapped it up with the roll of bandages. "There." He declared with a smile. "All better."

"Thank you, Nurse Stark." She grinned wildly at him. "What ever would I do without you?"

"Pepper, I'm trying to be a good boyfriend." He tried to tell her with a huff. His arms fled to her waist.

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean the smallest prick will cause me to bleed to death." She rolled her eyes at him and leaned into his embrace. She let out a sigh as her eyes fixated on the cutting board, "That was the last tomato we had, too."

"You're staying away from sharp objects from now on, or until you squeeze out that kid of ours." He mumbled against her neck.

She pulled away to furrow her eyebrows at him. "I don't know whether I should be angry that you're acting very over protective, or worried that you just referred to pregnancy as 'squeezing a kid out'."

He chuckled at her, and kissed her jaw line lovingly before burying his head in the crook of her neck. "I love you."

…

…

…

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tony worriedly asked. He was at the edge of the door, unsure of what to do next.

Pepper rolled her eyes at him. He was acting like a complete child. He had been cooped up in his workshop for the past couple days, and she thought it was time for him to get some fresh air, or at least get some exercise. No, Iron Man is not exercise.

Pepper skated by him with grace in her white pair of rented skates. She was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a light blue scarf that was loosely wrapped around her neck. "C'mon, Stark. You can risk your life in that suit of armor, but you can't ice skate?"

Tony's legs were wobbling on the rubber mat, and his hands were holding onto the railing for dear life. He whimpered and looked up at her with big brown eyes. "Do I have to?"

Pepper stopped in her tracks with a sigh and slowly skated towards him. She held her bare hand out to him. It was itching for his warmth. He looked down at it and then up at her before whimpering again.

He asked once more, "Do I _really_ have to?" His deep frown almost made her laugh at his childish behavior.

She wrapped her hands around his arm and tugged him forward, making him stumble into the ice rink. He was wearing a puffy grey sweatshirt over his black t-shirt, and dark denim jeans. He managed to regain his balance by hanging onto Pepper's body for dear life.

"Pepper—" He panicked, as he felt her body move unsteadily, no thanks to him.

"Tony, stop moving around so much." She scolded him.

"When you said I needed some fresh air, I didn't think you'd mean this death trap." He shakily said, still hanging onto her.

"You said, you'd only get some fresh air as long as we got to spend some time together." She grunted under her breath, still trying to stop his legs from wobbling.

"I meant taking a walk or having a nice picnic on the beach—not fearing for my life on a block of ice." He practically shouted. "Someone help!" He pleaded desperately.

"Oh hush," She smacked his arm. She unraveled herself from his hold and steadily held him by his elbows. Before she could give him further instructions, he lunged his body at her.

"Don't leave me, Pepper." He begged.

"Tony…" She mumbled. "You're a centimeter away from the railing." She gently nudged him towards the glass walls of the rink. He turned his head to stare at the railing before lunging himself at it.

"Pepper." He breathed unsteadily. "This was a bad idea." He drew out.

She smiled warmly at him. This was the fifth time she's has went ice skating in the past month, and she never really asked Tony if he had ice skated before. She wanted to surprise him with something fun and enjoyable for couples, but so far, he had been wearing a look of complete and utter horror. It was kind of adorable.

She held out her hand to him once more. "It'll be fun."

He stared at her hand and then up at her. He let out an exaggerated laugh. "Oh it's fun, alright. I'm having my own party on this railing. Everyone's invited."

She rolled her eyes at him. "If you follow my lead, I promise you'll be safe."

He stared at her with big glossy brown eyes. His mother took him ice skating once, and only once. He landed on his butt more than once, and even got a bruise from it. He swore he'd never ice skate again after that misfortunate experience.

"Promise?"

"Yes." She nodded and smiled warmly. She wiggled her fingers at him. He slowly wrapped his large hand around her petite one, enjoying the warmth that radiated from it. He locked his legs in place and let her gently slide him out into the open area. He quickly took her other hand once it left the railing.

"See?" She asked, stopping in the middle of the rink. "You're doing fine."

He looked up at her sternly. "That's because I haven't moved a muscle."

"Keep one of your legs in place and launch off with your other." She instructed him.

"Pepper—" He whined.

"Don't worry, if you stumble, I'll be right here to catch you." She reassured him.

She was one of the three people in the world he trusted, and he trusted her the most. He held onto her hands and followed her instructions. He kicked off with one leg, and then the other. He traveled with her to the other end of the rink until her back rubbed against the railing.

"Very nice, Mr. Stark." She smiled up at him. He took the opportunity to press her against his body, enveloping her in a warm embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck out of habit.

"You're a very good teacher, Miss Potts." His warm breath danced along her jaw line. He leaned in to kiss her once she gave him a warm chuckle of approval. His soft lips pressed against hers, asking for a little more. She moaned in approval and tightened her hold around his neck to deepen the kiss.

Tony's skate slid out from underneath him, making him pull away abruptly, and yelp. He desperately held onto Pepper's arm as his skates slid forward, thus pulling her down with him. She yelped as well thinking that she was going to land on the hard surface. Tony grunted in pain once his back came in contact with the ice. He let out an even louder grunt when Pepper landed on him. Pepper started to scramble off of him when she heard him let out a few coughs.

He prevented her from moving with his strong arms wrapped around her. "Agh, Pepper, don't move."

"Are you okay?" She asked him desperately. "Is your back okay? How about your head?"

He held her on top of him and let out a gentle sigh. "I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" She asked hastily, her hands roamed to check.

"Feeling me up already?" He smirked.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe this was a bad idea."

"We could've planned something _safer_, but this is… somewhat… romantic."

She looked at him flatly. "You could've cracked your head open, Tony."

"But I didn't," He smiled at her. She squirmed under his hold again, but he kept her in place.

"Tony—"

"Enjoy the moment, Pep." He hushed her with a small smile. "This is about as close to sex on ice as we're going to get."

She grumbled something incoherently under her breath and soon gave in. She laid her head against his chest and listened to the low whirrs of his Arc Reactor. He hummed in content, and ran his hands up and down her hip. Her hands were occupied with the strings of his sweatshirt, as was her wondering mind.

"Mm." He hummed contently. "A warm bath for two sounds so good right now."

"Keep dreaming." She snorted. She squirmed under his hold, searching for more warmth. He kissed the top of her head and held her, praying that a giant bruise won't form on his back.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: =)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Read and enjoy!

* * *

"Hey."

Tony turned around to see Rhodey standing behind him. He had the look of sadness and endearment for his friends. Tony noticed the bags under his eyes, and the look of an insatiable amount of worry that could, if not had already, tear through him like lightning.

Rhodey also noticed the heavy bags under his friend's eyes. It didn't look like he had gotten any sleep in the last few days. He could blame him. Tony had the suit of armor to protect him, and he had the help of his team, The Avengers, to back him up, but through all that trouble to save Los Angeles was a sacrifice no one had seen until later on.

"You don't look so good." Rhodey whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping redhead ten feet in front of him. He put his hand on Tony's shoulder, but he casually shrugged it off. "You should get some rest, Tony."

"It was all a stupid diversion." Tony spoke through his teeth. An enormous amount of rage radiated off the few spoken words.

"No one saw it coming." Rhodey tried to reassure him. "I know what you're going to say, and I'm here to keep you from saying it." He paused to read his body language, but there was nothing he could read from just his backside. "It's not your fault this happened to her."

Tony remembered when he found her. Pepper was lying on the floor of his Malibu mansion. Blood was smeared across her forehead and along her lip. It occupied spots of her favorite outfit; a thin white tank top, faded denim jeans, and a thin black belt. He had begged her the day before that business suits will not be touched on her day off. The day he stared at her from a distance to admire her casual attire, the day he begged her to take it all off, the day she playfully slapped his arm for being inappropriate, and the day she kissed him good luck upon receiving a distress call from Director Fury was the exact same day as her day off, and the exact same day he found her lying in the middle of his ransacked mansion.

Tony bit back the horrible memories that plagued his mind, and will no doubt continue plaguing it until he found something to bury it with; something to suppress the only nightmare that could make him beg for it to stop.

"How is it not my fault?" He asked him. "The minute Fury told me about a situation in east Los Angeles, I should've made her take a jet to Stark Tower in New York." He bit back the tears that were threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes. "I should've…" He stared at Pepper's sleeping form. Her forearm and forehead was wrapped in bandages, and underneath one of his t-shirts she had put on after coming home from the hospital were more bandages. Her good bare arm lay across her middle, and her breathing was set at a steady pace, indicating that she had fallen fast asleep. "I'm supposed to protect her." He finally said. "I'm a super hero, for god's sake. I should've been there for her."

Rhodey understood where he was coming from. Telling Tony that he shouldn't blame himself was pointless, because he would blame himself regardless of what happened. Pepper was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and to see something so precious to him get pried from his hands was heartbreaking.

"The hospital says she'll make a full recovery."

"We haven't caught him yet, Rhodey." Tony was almost angry at him for sounding so calm. "He's still out there, and it's probable for him to come back and finish the job."

"What did Director Fury have to say about all of this?" Rhodey asked curiously, still staring at Pepper's sleeping, and somewhat peaceful, form.

"He wants me to stay close to Pepper until the rest of the Avengers catch the guy." Tony felt his head throb. He lowered his head into his palm, allowing his fingers to massage his forehead.

"It's better than allowing you to go on a rampage." Rhodey noted.

Tony's fists clenched at his words. "I can't believe I let this happen to her."

"Stop it." Rhodey sternly told him. "For the last time, this isn't your fault. You can't protect everyone at the same time."

"Of all the people in this world, the one person I _want_ to protect with every ounce of strength and life in me is Pepper, and will always be Pepper." Tony grounded out.

"She knows that." Rhodey calmly told him. "She doesn't doubt that you'll do everything you can to shield her from all the evils in the world."

"Then why does it seem like I've failed her?"

Rhodey knew exactly what the answer was, but it wasn't his place to tell him. Instead, he squeezed his friend's shoulder reassuringly and urged him to get some rest. It was only two hours after Rhodey left when Pepper woke up.

Tony did his best to take care of her. He fetched a bottle of water, handed her two pills from the prescription the doctor gave her, and even heated up some soup via microwave. He did all this without looking at her, and Pepper noticed his lack of eye contact almost immediately.

"Tony." Pepper murmured through her hoarse voice.

Tony sat beside her on the bed and stared down at her bandaged arm, humming questionably. "Hm?"

"Is there soup on my face?" Her voice was pure and worriless.

"Nope." He answered quickly. He didn't look at her.

"Why won't you look at me?" Her innocent and curious voice almost made him cave.

"What do you mean?" He glanced up at her.

"Stop acting like I'm stupid." She was starting to get angry at him. She put her half-empty bowl on top of the nightstand and leaned against his side. She reached up and turned his face with her hand, making him look at her. His eyes were a dark shade of brown. They were hard, and clouded with worry, judgment, and fear.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he yanked his head back to its original position. Her hands fell to his lap in awe.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing." He shrugged.

"You're not very good at lying." She told him as she rested her head underneath his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, mindful of her cuts and bruises. "I've been with you for eleven years, Stark."

"You should get some rest." He retreated from the conversation.

"I've been asleep all day." She argued before removing herself from his arms. She swung her legs out of the bed and grabbed her bowl of soup.

"Where are you going?" He asked her, finally staring at her.

"Soup is cold." She responded.

He got up immediately and blocked the doorway. His hands eagerly flew to the bowl. "Let me heat it up for you."

"I'm fully capable of putting a bowl in the microwave." She pulled the bowl away from his grasp. This time, one of his hands flew to her shoulder, and the other to the bowl.

"Pepper, you're in no shape to be walking around."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "The doctor said I should get some exercise every now and then." She walked past him, causing their shoulders to bump. She hissed in pain from the sudden remembrance of the big bruise her shoulder sported. Tony was at her side in milliseconds.

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly. His hands were around her shoulders.

"Yeah." She let the wave of pain subside before she continued down the hall, and towards the kitchen. Tony was trailing closely behind her, almost hovering. He could tell she was angry at him. Angry at him for acting like she was a fragile peach. She wasn't, and she was tired of him acting like she was.

Pepper popped open the microwave on the counter and Tony caught the door. He closed it when she had placed the bowl inside. His hands immediately flew to the nuke button to start the microwave, as if she couldn't handle pressing buttons herself. She rolled her eyes at his overwhelming presence and slowly made her way towards the counter.

"You should sit down." She could feel him hovering behind her.

"Why?" She asked coldly.

He furrowed her eyebrows at her. "What's with the attitude?"

She held up her arms in frustration and gestured a squeezing motion. "It feels like you're crowding me!" She practically shouted.

"What do you want me to do, Pepper?" He finally asked her, almost shouting himself. "Do you _not _want me to care about you? Is that it?"

"It feels like you're not giving me a chance to breathe, Tony!"

He balled his fists up as he tried to swallow his anger, but that didn't work. "How did you think I felt when I walked into this house?" This time he shouted at her. He rounded the counter to face her. It was the first time they had looked at each other; _actually_ look at each other. She saw all the sadness, regret, anger, and sorrow through those dark brown saucers of his. "To see my girlfriend lying on the floor with blood covering her body…" He shook his head. "I_ couldn't _breathe." She stared at him as she listened to him intently.

"You're the _single_ most important thing to me, Pep." He told her with a calm and loving tone. "To have something like that happen to you _killed_ me."

Time wasn't on his side. The microwave dinged, making Pepper look behind her in curiosity. She opened the microwave and took out the nuked bowl of soup. When she placed it on the counter, her hand immediately flew to her stomach. She closed her eyes and groaned in pain. Her burning forehead hit the cool marble counter in front of her when the pain overtook her body. Tony was immediately at her side. His hand flew to her back, rubbing it gently, and the other gently tugging her body towards the couch.

He sat her down on the couch and ran back into the kitchen. He emptied a water bottle's contents into the sink and filled it with hot water. The doctor had explained to him that she would feel some abdominal pain from the stitches they had to put along her stomach. He said a hot pack would relieve the pain.

He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap. She curled against his chest with her eyes still closed shut. Her soft whimpers almost cut through his heart as he gently pried her hands from the origin of the pain. He placed the hot bottle on top of her stomach and allowed her to press on it.

He kept rubbing her back to reassure her of his presence. It hurt him to see her like this; writhing in pain, unable to stop it. She eventually relaxed in his arms and rested her head on his chest. The bridge of her nose dug into his chin as she softly sniffed.

"You okay?" He asked quietly. She nodded.

"Thanks." She murmured.

He kissed her forehead and hugged her. Her legs were still curled up against him. He could feel her hot forehead against his jaw.

"You mean the world to me, Pep. I'm just trying to protect you." He continued their conversation.

"What if I don't need protection?" She mumbled as her hand fiddled with the hem of his sleeve. She felt him tense under her. "I know you're Iron Man, Tony, and it's clear how much you care about me, but I'm a big girl." She tried to tell him. "I'm not a flimsy school girl that needs to be saved twenty-four-seven."

He raised his eyebrows. "That's actually a fantasy of mine." They shared a chuckle after she hit him on the chest with the back of her hand.

"I'll admit that these recent events _have _shaken me, but I'm not about to give up on you. I meant what I said when you're all I have. There's nothing in this world that will change how I feel about you." She smiled up at him and cuddled further into his arms. "Besides, _someone _has to occupy the exhausting job of loving you."

"Hey." He furrowed his eyebrows as he gave her a questionable look.

She kissed the bottom of his chin and smiled endearingly. "I have no doubts that you'll be there when I need you the most. And Rhodey is right, you can't save everyone all at the same time."

"When did—" He looked puzzled. "You were supposed to be sleeping."

She almost rolled her eyes. "It's hard to sleep when two men don't know how to whisper at the threshold of your bedroom."

"Sorry." He whispered. He kissed the top of her head and pressed his nose against her hair. His hand pulled at the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing. She gave him a puzzled look. "Can I check?"

She nodded. His hand brought her t-shirt up above her stomach, allowing him to check the state and condition of her bandages that were wrapped around her middle. He gingerly glided his hands across them, inspecting them with precision.

"I don't see any blood, so you didn't rip your stitches." He told her. He let her t-shirt fall back in place.

Pepper kissed the corner of his mouth. She laid her head back against his shoulder and pressed her lips to his jaw line. She watched him pull at the hem of her t-shirt, his eyes focusing on her stomach. She could see the pain in his eyes as horrid memories flooded his consciousness. A minute passed by.

"Tony." She spoke softly. He snapped out of his trance, but didn't look at her. "It's not your fault."

He shook his head. "You guys keep on telling me that, but I don't see how it _can't_ be anything _but_ my fault."

"You can't protect everyone at the same time." She tried to tell him.

He turned his head this time, staring at her with clouded eyes. "I _want_ to protect you, Pepper. I don't want you to lose faith in me."

Her hand reached up to cup his cheek as the other pressed the hot bottle against her stomach. "I'd never lose faith in you. You always jump to these insane conclusions."

He melted against her touch. "They say jealousy is caused by the known fact that your partner can do better – better than what they already have." She wanted to roll her eyes. His arms pressed her further against his chest. "I don't want to lose you, Pepper. I know you can do better than me – hell, even JARVIS can do better than me." She furrowed her eyebrows at the last bit. "I want to do everything I can for you, and it might be in the old fashioned egotistical playboy Tony Stark way, but I'm trying."

"I know." She murmured.

"And this may sound very possessive and crazy, but you're mine. And no one else can have you. Not even what's her face."

She smirked. "You mean my mom?"

"Yeah." He nodded, and nuzzled her neck with his nose.

"You're impossible." She winced at the roughness of his goatee.

"And yet you deal with me on a daily basis." He smirked.

She began to sigh. Her hand played with the hairs on the back of his neck. "Someone's got to." He felt him smile against her forehead. "I'll be fine. Everything that's happened, and everything that _will_ happen – we'll get through it. You can't blame yourself for everything that'll happen. I won't let you."

He lifted his head up to stare down at her. His deep, rich, chocolate brown eyes held her calm oceanic blue ones. He saw effect she had on him. Her presence, her voice, and those beautiful eyes always seemed to calm him down. For whatever reason, he found everything easy to deal with – only because she had been there with him.

"I know I've never said it to you before…"

Pepper looked up at him curiously.

"…I love you." He murmured, still staring at her.

She grinned wildly and further burrowed herself in his arms. When he felt her snuggle further into his chest, his heart almost lost it. He could feel his insides warm up to her soft skin, and her overwhelming presence. "I love you, too." He heard her mutter.

He smiled warmly at her words. After a good minute, he gently nudged the water bottle in her lap. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't tell Rhodey about what just happened." He smiled.

"Why?" She almost snorted.

"Because I'm not supposed to be soft and squishy." He mumbled

She breathed a laugh. Of course. Tony Stark has a reputation to uphold. Rhodey, besides Happy, was the only person that got to see Tony in his vulnerable state, but neither of them had ever seen Tony act caring and somewhat considerate. Only Pepper has. It was probably to make up for those years of torture he put her through.

He took the bottle and placed it on the table in front of them. "The soup is probably ice cold right now." He broke the news to her, glancing at the kitchen.

"That's fine." She slowly got up, prying herself from his hold.

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously. His eyes followed her every move. She walked towards the bedroom.

"I think the medication is doing its stuff." She admitted before stifling a yawn.

He spent the next hour, or so, curled up next to Pepper in their bedroom. He allowed her to snuggle up to his side while he calmly played with the ends of her hair. One of her legs was over his, one of her arms was snuggled between their sides, and the other lay across her middle.

He had to wake her up to change her bandages. He would steal a few sleepy kisses every now and then whilst his hands were busy with the fabric wrapped around her. She would hum against arms, inhaling his scent.

"You know." She spoke sleepily.

"Hm?" He hummed, unraveling the bandages.

"Before that creep tossed me around, I did land a kick or two to his shin." She grinned wildly.

He laughed softly.


End file.
